


Wine Red

by SkeletalConstellation



Series: Blood and Booze AU [1]
Category: Cookie Run (Video Game)
Genre: A little angst, A little pining, Alchemist isn't getting paid enough for this bullshit, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood Drinking, Blood and Gore, Bruises, Friends to Lovers, Implied Sexual Content, Kinda, Light Angst, M/M, Mentions of Blood, Mutual Pining, OH LOOK NEW TAGS, One Night Stands, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sparkling's oblivious to everything, Tags Are Fun, Tags May Change, Vampire Bites, Vampire cookie is a literal vampire, Vampire is never sober, Vampire kinda hates himself, Vampires, Why do cookies have real actual blood? Simple answer: so vampirism makes sense, a little fluff, also we got the full shebang when it comes to Vampire being a vampire, and a sunlight weakness, and blood drinking but that's obvious, and no one knows this except Alchemist, and transforming into a (wine) bat, but everyone else just thinks it's a nickname, but its mostly just mentioned so uhhhhh, but not in a sexual way vamp's just straight-up hungee, but that's in the background, like hypnotism, more like Friends to One-Night-Stand to Friends to Lovers am I right, some randos get their blood drained, sorta - Freeform, this is a kinda stupid little fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-10-11 23:32:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 22,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17456384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkeletalConstellation/pseuds/SkeletalConstellation
Summary: Vampire has always held a place in Sparkling's heart, no matter how much he denies it. However, a dark creature roams the streets at night, and Vampire's name may be more than just a jab at his fashion sense.Feelings blossom between bartender and patron, but one question still hangs in the air:Can love heal a monster's heart?Or will it all come crashing down in a river of blood?





	1. Merlot

**Author's Note:**

> Listen. I am a simple woman. I see Vampire Cookie, I can't just let him be a drunk bitch. I gotta angst.

"Top me off, barkeep!"

Sparkling sighed audibly and shook his head, turning towards his best customer with a reprimanding smile. "I think you've had quite enough tonight, Vamp."

Vampire let out a soft whine, laying his head down on the polished marble counter of the almost-empty bar and giving Sparkling his very best pouty-bat eyes- which were extremely effective, even in his inebriated state.

Before he could object, Sparkling found himself pouring another glass of wine, simply stating "Alright. Last drink, then I'm cutting you off."

Because that's what always ended up happening. Sparkling didn't know what it was about vampire, but he couldn't say no to him. He'd try, but vampire would give him that sad, pitiful look, and all bets would be off. Honestly, Sparkling swore the Gothic drunkard had cast some sort spell over him. 

 

Vampire grinned, downing the glass at a speed even Sparkling found mildly impressive. Upon draining the glass, he set it down with surprising gentleness, then slowly got off the barstool and to his feet. He stretched, then pulled out a few coins and dropped them on the bar. “I better ‘ead home fer the night…” he mumbled, speech slurred from inebriation. “But'll be back t’morrow…”

 

“You sure you'll be alright? I can call you a cab if you want,” Sparkling offered, but Vampire waved it off. 

“I'm fine… Ain't far anyhoo…” he assured with a dismissive wave. “Night, Sparky.”

 

Sparkling watched him go, his lack of presence leaving a certain loneliness in the bar. Sparkling exhaled the breath he didn't realize he was holding, then picked up Vampire's dirty wine glass. As he cleaned it with his rag, he couldn't help but think about the unusual man. Although sparkling never saw him out and about during the daylight hours, he was a frequent customer at night. Come to think of it, Sparkling had  _ only _ ever seen him at the bar, unlike all his other patrons who he regularly passed by or spotted out doing their business during the day. He had to wonder what sort of things that man got up to outside the bar. 

He put the glass away, glancing at the clock. He was supposed to close two hours ago, he realized. He turned to call for final drinks, only to realize that he was alone in the bar. Huh. He was sure there'd been more patrons… He supposed he had just gotten distracted by Vampire. That had happened before. 

 

After all, Vampire was a pretty distracting person to be around, though not always in a bad way. 

  
  


 

Vampire walked through the nearly empty streets, stumbling a little as he walked. Almost as soon as he was out of sight of the bar, a hunger pang hit him, and he crumpled in on himself out of pain. Shit, how long had it been since he last ate? Usually the alcohol was enough to keep his condition at bay, with the nausea and mental fog it brought with it, but he realized it had been over a month since he'd actually fed. He was glad he'd left the bar when he did- if he'd stayed even a little longer, he might have attacked Sparkling out of bloodlust. 

 

And he was pretty sure he couldn't live with himself if he hurt Sparkling. 

 

Focus, focus- his steps were shakier as his mind and body screamed to be fed. He had to be patient… He had to wait… He had to get home first… 

His sharp ears picked up a heartbeat, steady and tempting. On instinct, he followed the sound, the sound getting torturously loud as he neared its source. 

Silently, he followed Rollcake Cookie through the dark alleys of the city, drawn in by the sound of blood pumping through the demolitionist’s veins. He was so close, he could have reached out… Grabbed the man… Fed on the wine-red ichor, sweeter than the sweetest wine… He was  _ so painfully close _ … He reached out a hand… 

 

At the last second, his rational mind kicked in, and he yanked his own hand away with a growl. Rollcake spun around at the sound, witnessing Vampire seemingly wrestling with his hand. “What the- Vampire? Are you okay?”

He asked, looking at the other man with uncharacteristic concern. 

Vampire nodded, biting his own lip hard enough to make it bleed. “I- I'm sorry, I have to go now-”

“Woah, dude- don't freak out, you don't look so good-”

Before Rollcake could finish his thought, Vampire rushed off, disappearing into the night and leaving the demolitionist alone once again. 

  
  


 

Alchemist Cookie heard her brother before she saw him, in the form of a loud thud against her window. She opened it, scooping the little red bat up into her hands and not-so-gently dumping him on a chair. “What have we talked about staying out this late, idiot?” she asked, going back to the formula she was working on. 

 

When she got no reply, she turned back towards her brother, finding him full-sized and eyeing her with a hungered glare. Her heart sank, but she didn't let it reach her face, keeping her expression hardened. She dug through her ingredients, pulling out a bag labeled “AB+” and throwing it at her brother, who grabbed it desperately. “Here. I can't let my own brother starve himself to death, even if he's the laziest moron in the universe.” 

 

Vampire bit into the bag, feeling the pains melt away as he drained the liquid out of it. A tear welled in his eye, then another, and before he knew it he was sobbing over the bloodbag that had saved him. 

“Why… Why am I like this?”

“I don't know, Vampire. I wish I could tell you.” 

“I'm… I'm disgusting… I'm a monster…”

“You're drunk, Vampire. Get to bed… You'll feel better in the morning.”

 

Vampire only hoped she was right. 


	2. Hemoglobin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sparkling goes on a walk and runs into someone he doesn't expect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little less dramatic than the last one but I hope you still enjoy. Also, this chapter takes place about 2 1/2 weeks after the first one.

Sparking picked up his bags, thanking the baker as he left their stall. 

It was a cloudy day at the market, but Sparkling enjoyed the cool breeze against his face. He adjusted his grip on his sourdough loaf, picking up his pace through the rows of vendors- he had a few more to get to, and his arms were getting tired from the weight of his previous purchases. What was left on his list? H lifted the paper to his face, cursing himself for having the worst handwriting in town. Oregano, champagne grapes, fresh honey...

A word of advice, don't read and walk at the same time.

Sparkling blinked, lifting himself off the bag of squashed groceries and dusting himself off, a little disoriented- it took him a moment to register the man in front of him, the man currently gathering spilled market goods and apologizing profusely. Once he did though, he couldn't help but stare, shocked by who it was. 

The man was dressed in long, dark clothes, almost his entire body covered in black- black gloves, black sunglasses, black oversize sun hat with a black veil around the rim- the man practically looked like a grieving widow.

All the black on his body  _ did _ work well to contrast two distinct, colorful features of the man- an amethyst cross Sparkling had seen an uncountable number of times before, and long, wine-red hair he'd recognize a mile away. 

“Vampire? What are you doing here?”

Vampire was silent for a small eternity, staring at Sparkling with zoned-out eyes, before snapping out of it with an embarrassed chuckle. “Ah- Alc kicked me out of the house. Said the fresh air would help with the hangover.”

Sparkling snorted, carefully taking his crumpled groceries from his cust-  _ acquaintance,  _ they weren't at the bar Sparkling- and repacking them as best as he could. “You know you wouldn't  _ have _ a hangover if you didn't insist on getting shitfaced every night,” he reprimanded, though there was no malice to it. 

Vampire groaned melodramatically, flopping over onto the dusty ground. “God, sparkling, you sound just like her,” he whimpered, raising a hand to his temple in a mock faint. “You'd think she was  _ your _ sister!”

He didn't know what it was about Vampire's last comment, but sparkling felt his composure slip, face twitching as he tried- and failed- to hold a laugh in. His laugh was loud and musical, uncontainable and wild. It was a laugh that left Vampire staring again, awestruck. 

When Sparkling finally got control of himself, he wiped a tear from his eyes, breathing “you're too much, Vamp” under his breath. Groceries collected and no harm done, he helped Vampire get to his feet, sending the Gothic man off with a pat on the back and a promise of “see you tonight”.

 

His chance encounter over, Sparkling left to buy the rest of his groceries, heart just a little lighter than before. 

  
  
  


Vampire skirted into an alleyway, pulling off his hat and sunglasses once he was in the shade- curse the day and it's stupid burning  _ sun _ \- and put a hand over his heart. It was beating rapidly, as if it was trying to break free of his chest and soar high into the air, defying the deadly sun. Had he gotten suddenly sick? Was he a victim of some unknown plague? Was that why he couldn't get emerald green eyes out of his troubled mind? 

It was because he'd been recognized, he reasoned. Yes, it had to be- he was just  _ confused _ because the bartender had known who he was immediately. Yes. Totally. 

All too soon, he felt the sun hit his cheek as the shadows shifted, hissing in pain as it burned under the cursed light. Pulling back on his hat and glasses, he snuck off back towards home- he couldn't risk getting recognized again, he reasoned. 

  
  
  


Sparkling eyed the clock, a little concern blooming in his heart. Vampire was later than normal. On most nights, Vampire would be one of the first people in the bar when it opened- in fact, Sparkling was pretty sure he hadn't ever not come to the bar when it was open. But the bar had been open for a few hours, and the night was growing old- only two customers were still here, and they were getting ready to leave. 

After the last customer paid their bill and headed out, Sparkling gave up hope of his regular stopping by. With a mildly disappointed sigh, he started cleaning up, wiping down the counter with his rag to a mirror shine before going to the door to flip the sign and lock up. 

When he looked up and out the window, two amethyst eyes met his own, and Sparkling felt a miniature heart attack wrack his chest. 

Vampire smiled sheepishly, pressing a hand against the glass. “May I come in?”

Sparkling nodded and opened the door, allowing the regular to drift into the bar like a persistent fog. He was still dazed from the initial shock, but all the same he found himself walking back to the bar to serve one final customer. “Let me guess, the… usual…” he started, but trailed off when he saw Vampire in the light.

To put it lightly, he looked awful.

Vampire’s eyes had dark circles beneath them, as if he hadn’t slept well. A thin trail of something reddish-brown stained his mouth, which was turned up into a tired smile. “Yeah, Sparky. The usual would be fantastic.”

“Jesus Christ, what happened to you? No offence, but you look like something the cat dragged in, ate, and then immediately puked up again.”

Vampire shrugged, plunking his head down on the bar. “Just tired, I guess. Didn’t get enough sleep.”

Sparkling cocked a suspicious eyebrow, pouring the regular a glass of red wine. “I saw you this morning, Vamp. You didn’t look  _ nearly _ this awful, and you were hungover!”

Vamp chuckled, taking the glass and downing it in a single gulp. “I’ll let you in on a little secret, Sparks- I’m a day sleeper.”

Sparkling raised his other eyebrow, but shrugged it off and refilled Vampire's glass- that was news to him, but given all of Vampire's other quirks and eccentricities it was pretty tame. Now that he thought about it, it even made sense- Vampire was usually pretty awake and energetic (for lack of a better word) when he came in in the evenings. "Huh. Always knew you were a night owl, but not to that degree," he joked, gathering bottles of expensive imported booze to lock away for the night. 

Vampire smiled just a little wider, a little more genuinely, and took a sip. "Oh, I don't know... More of a bat than an Owl, don't you think?"

Sparkling shook his head, locking up the cabinet. "Last drinks before I close up shop?"

Vampire took a long drink, then held out his glass again. "Top me off, barkeep."

 

 

 

Vampire found himself back at home, staring at the ceiling from his (currently open) coffin. He couldn't sleep- which confused him more than anything else.That was his thing! The thing he was famous for being able to do! Sleep anywhere, at anytime- so why couldn't he tonight?

Maybe he was hungry- it _had_ been a couple of weeks since Alchemist saved him, and the hunger  _had_ started up again, but... hunger had never kept him awake before. No, it had to be something else.

 

Something with emerald eyes and a nonchalant smile, perhaps, though Vampire would not admit it to save his own skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! As always, leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed, I love reading through what people have to say!


	3. Shiraz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sparkling plans one of his famous parties. Vampire gets an invitation. Bat shenanigans ensue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is more vampire heavy, and an extra warning- some more vampire-y stuff stuff happens in this one right off the bat. But, it's also pretty light. Weird.

Vampire unsunk his teeth from the limp man's neck, letting him fall to the ground in a trembling, anemic heap. Stomach full and mind cleared, he could feel a wave of dread and guilt sweep over him. He took a step back, then another, mind unable to fully face the facts about his misdeed. No, no... this couldn't be right! He- he couldn't have slipped up, not so soon! He should have lasted at least another week before he even started having thoughts about it- and yet here he was, in front of an unconscious man with the undeniable taste of iron in his mouth.

Behind him, someone gasped.

He whipped around, catching the woman by the shoulder and quickly clamping a hand over her mouth- even though her horror was justified, he couldn't let her scream. If she screamed, it was all over. 

He looked her directly in the eyes, amethyst meeting jade, and, as quietly as possible, whispered "You did not see me here tonight. The man was alone when you found him."

She nodded slowly, the trance washing over her psyche. Satisfied, Vampire let go, disappearing into the darkness with a flourish of his cape. 

  
  
  


"You hear about the guy who got attacked, Vamp?"

Vampire, thoroughly lost in thought, slowly shook his head. Sparkling watched him, something not sitting right deep in his guts, but he ignored his gut instinct.

"Yeah, they found the dude passed out in an alley," Sparkling informed his best customer, pouring a couple shots into his mixer and shaking it. "He's alright now, thankfully. He lost some blood, but got off without anything permanent."

Vampire took a swig of his wine, resting his head on the polished marble counter. Sparkling saw that look in his eyes, those amethyst eyes- that was a look of sadness, and of fear, and of untold secrets. Sparkling wondered what he was hiding- it must be something important, surely! Vampire rarely had any secrets- he was an open book, albeit a dark and probably magical one. 

Sparkling noticed Vampire's glass was almost empty, refilling it for him- this was only his second glass, and he looked like he needed it. Vampire didn't acknowledge this, hardly even noticing the wine being poured- now  _ that  _ concerned Sparking greatly. Vampire was never one to refuse booze,  _ especially _ expensive wine. He clapped a hand on his customer's shoulder, leaning down in an attempt to meet Vampire's eyes. "Hey, Vamp... What's eating you? you seem troubled.

Vampire stiffened under Sparkling's hand, shrugging it off his shoulder as best he could and refusing to meet Sparkling's beautiful emerald eyes, choosing to instead to stare intensely at the glass of red liquid. "It's nothing. I'm fine." he mumbled, though his tone was anything but convincing.

Which, needless to say, didn't convince Sparkling. 

“Vampire, I know something's wrong,” Sparkling pressed, voice firm but gentle. “Please, I'm your friend. You don't have to keep secrets from me.”

Vampire's heart ached at the worry in his friend's voice. He wished he could tell him- by all the gods of old legend, he wished he could tell Sparkling everything, lay bare his heart for him to pick over and choose to reject or accept as he pleased, but alas he was far too cowardly for that. The mere thought of Sparkling rejecting him for his secretive sins hurt him more than the purest silver or the mid-day sun ever could. 

“I'm fine, really. I'm just… I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” he insisted. Sparkling sighed sadly, still not convinced, but finally let it slide. 

“Well, I've got something that might cheer you up, just a little,” the bartender quipped, dipping below the counter to grab something. “Oh, where did I- here we go! Ta-da!”

Vampire stared at the envelope Sparkling was holding out for him. Its golden wax seal was embossed with the letter S layered over a champagne bottle, confirming it as legitimate. He took it gingerly, as if he expected it to turn to dust if he was too rough with it. Vampire was in shock and awe, turning it over to read the perfect cursive that spelled out two words: Vampire Cookie. 

“Sparkling, this- this is a-”

“Vampire Cookie, I'd be honored to have you attend my next party.”

 

 

 

Despite generally being the life of the party, Vampire felt lost.

Although, that might have partially been because Sparkling's house was fucking  _huge._

He had been wandering around for a solid half-hour and had yet to find Sparkling- or the majority of the party, for that matter. He had, however, managed to find three bathrooms, two walk-in closets, and one snogging couple (he'd apologized profusely to Knight and Fire Spirit, but not before getting glared at over the interruption).  

Finally, after fifteen wrong rooms, Vampire found the main foyer. Honestly, how the hell did a bartender afford such a big house? He supposed he was one to talk, he did live in a castle... all the same, he was still bamboozled.

He spotted Sparkling at the minibar, serving trick drinks to impress his guests. Currently, he had a row of shot glasses lined up side-by-side, a look of pure concentration on his face as he poured various liquors into his tumbler. 

Vampire pushed through the gathered crowd, at the contempt of the other party goers, settling on peering over the heads of the others when he couldn't get all the way to the front. He couldn't help his curiosity- what in heaven's name could Sparkling be doing to attract so much attention?

Vampire's jaw dropped as the bartender started pouring the mysterious mixture into the shot glasses, watching each one add to the rainbow gradient he was creating.  Vampire couldn't tell anyone what exactly he was witnessing, but he guessed it was some sort of weird science or witchcraft or something. Probably witchcraft. Definitely witchcraft.

Sparkling finished pouring the last shot, a bright cherry red drink, and pulled the tumbler away and set it down. He gave a proud little "Ta-da" to the amused guests clapping for his little performance, eyes sweeping over the crowd,

Emerald briefly met amethyst, and Sparkling winked at his tall friend.

Vampire felt his face burn red, and for a moment he honestly thought he was dying.

 

As the crowd dispersed, Sparkling stepped out from behind the bar, scanning the crowd for Vampire- and being utterly unable to find him. That's weird. How did a tall, lanky redhead with terrible fashion sense disappear so quickly?

He sighed, pouring himself a glass of champagne and stepping out of the room. He needed a breather, and although he had hoped to talk to Vampire about... things. He recently had noticed Vampire's behavior had taken a turn, and Sparkling was more concerned than he usually felt about a customer's attitude. He seemed so... lost, recently, especially since the attack. He seemed more tired, but not in a lazy way- in an 'overwhelming exhaustion and general apathy for life' way. He had also been drinking less, which generally Sparkling would absolutely condone but this was  _Vampire_ he was talking about, drunk, melodramatic,  _perfect_ Vampire-

He caught himself thinking too much about those amethyst eyes and lazy smile, a vivid blush spreading across his face- alright, yeah, he'd had a crush on Vampire for just about as long as he'd known him, but he'd never act on it. Not only was it  _highly_ unprofessional, he knew all he was to the Gothic drunk was, at most, the guy who served him drinks- he doubted Vampire even considered him a friend.

 _Wow, way to kill the mood at your own party,_ Sparkling scolded himself, taking a sip of his bubbly drink and sneaking into a guest room to get away from the crowds. The door closed with a click, and Sparkling breathed a sigh of relief, placing his drink on the nightstand and flopping down onto the soft down bed. 

Despite all the evidence that suggest the contrary, Sparkling considered himself to be a bit of an introvert. An extroverted introvert, someone had once called him, which was somehow both accurate and oxymoronic. He was talkative when in social scenarios and was anything but shy. Hell, he loved his many friends and acquaintances, and loved to impress them with his cocktail skills. But, all the same, he could only stand that much social attention before the people around him drained his energy, and he'd have to excuse himself to go recharge. 

Like now, for example.

He had hoped to speak to Vampire, however. Talking to him always gave him energy, and he had wanted to voice his concerns for the other man. But, that hadn't come to pass, and now it was just him alone, mentally rambling on a guest bed.

He sighed, reaching out to grab his glass and lift it to his lips.

Except it wasn't his glass.

Instead of sweet, bubbling liquid, Sparkling's lips were met with something bitter and gelatinous. The strange taste was accompanied by a surprised squeak, making Sparkling nearly drop the glass in surprise.

He looked into his glass, realizing that instead of a champagne flute he was holding a wine glass. Even more peculiarly, within the wineglass wasn't wine, but rather a wine-colored bat that appeared to be made of some jelly-like substance. It blinked at him, shocked and almost looking offended, which made Sparkling giggle a little bit. "I'm sorry, little guy- whatcha doing in the guest room? You someone's pet?" he asked, reaching out to stroke its tiny ears.

it huffed, but its anger melted into relaxation as it practically melted into Sparkling's gentle pets. Sparkling smiled sadly, continuing his little affectionate pets on the tiny bat. "You look sorta like Vampire... Is he your owner, little guy?"

The bat squeaked again and snuggled down into its glass, making Sparkling laugh again. "I'll return you to him later... Maybe it'll give me a chance to talk to him."

The bat perked up, squeaking curiously- Sparkling swore it could understand him. "Oh, you probably know your owner... He probably off in the wine cellar getting drunk out of his mind. But..." Sparkling sighed, absentmindedly stroking the creature's head, "... he's been acting strange recently, and... and I'm worried about him. I mean, yeah, I've worried about him before, guy does get drunk a lot, but... but why can't I shake this feeling that he's in trouble? What if he's in danger? what if-"

The bat squeaked in discomfort, and Sparkling realized he had been petting it too aggressively. He lifted his hand away, watching the mildly squashed bat bounce back to full size. "Sorry, sorry... guess I've got a bit of built up stress," he chuckled apologetically, listening to the bat squeak indignantly before taking flight, zooming up and out the open window. Sparkling watched it zoom off, a sense of quiet sadness washing over him. 

"Well... goodbye, I guess," he mumbled, staring out the window and into the night.

 

Vampire re-entered the house through a different window, heart hammering a mile a minute. He hadn't expected  _that_ when he had retreated to the quiet guest room to doze. Sparkling- Sparkling had  _pet_ him! He'd told him he was concerned about him!

No, get it together Vampire, can't go back in there looking like a flustered mess. Gotta keep it together, just for a few more hours.

With a deep breath, He reentered the foyer.

It was chaos.

The police  _and_ the royal guard were there, escorting people from the premises. Vampire darted through the crowd, looking for a familiar face to ask what was wrong, when Sparkling grabbed his arm and yanked him back behind a pillar.

"What-"

"Vampire, thank god," Sparking breathed, panicking and out of breath. Vampire found himself in a tight hug, still confused and disoriented. "Do you have a ride? is there someone who can pick you up?"

"Sparkling, what's going on?"

"Everyone's required to head home or find a place to stay the night, vampire."

"But- But why? I don't understand-"

Sparkling took a deep breath, pulling away from Vampire to look him in the eyes, the gravity of the situation clearly showing across his face.

"There's been another attack."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OHOHO, another monster roams the night! Who could it be?  
> Stay tuned for Wine Red Chapter 4: Bilirubin, coming very soon.
> 
> And as always, kudos and comment if you enjoyed!


	4. Bilirubin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vampire spends the night at Sparkling's Manor. Across town, a certain apprentice does some sleuthing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! This chapter contains mild implied sexual content (no details, just aftermath).

Sparkling sat at the minibar, shock leaving him practically catatonic.

The only sound that broke the silence of the big, empty house was the light tapping of Vampire's fingernails against the marble countertop. Although he had assured Sparkling he could get home safely, he didn't have anyone to pick him up and the cabs were all full, so Sparkling had insisted he stay the night for safety's sake. The police had escorted everyone else from the premises by now, leaving Sparkling and Vampire alone. They'd been in this stupor for about 20 minutes now.

Sparkling finally snapped out of his daze, sliding off his stool and walking behind the bar. "I... I need a drink. You want one?"

Vampire hummed a confirmation, sitting up and smoothing his hair back. Sparkling started to pull out a wine glass, but Vampire stopped him. "Ah- I think... I think I could use something stronger- like, a lot stronger."

Sparkling looked a little surprised, but let out a humorless chuckle. "Yeah... Yeah, I get it. I got something for us."

Vampire started to regret his decision when Sparking pulled out two shot glasses and four bottles of whiskey, pouring a little of each into them. He definitely regretted it when Sparkling then proceeded to pull out a lighter and set the already suspect drink on fire.

Sparkling blew out the flames after a few seconds, then passed one shot over to Vampire. “Flaming Four Horsemen. Nasty drink, but it'll take the edge off your nerves.”

Vampire quietly thanked him, taking the drink and sipping it- a regrettable move, as unlike his usual wine the foul liquid _burned,_ leaving him sputtering and coughing. Sparkling watched him with great amusement, chuckling softly. "Sorry- you're gonna want to down that one as quick as humanly possible. Ain't exactly... pleasant on the taste buds."

"Is it supposed to taste like gasoline?!"

“Yup,” was Sparkling's short reply, right before downing his own drink with only a very slight wince and setting the shot glass down with a clink.

Vampire, not one to be shown up, downed his own shot, resisting the urge to spit out the vile liquor. His face screwed up in discomfort, making Sparkling smirk a little. Wordlessly, the bartender poured another drink for the pair, leaving the flames out of the equation this time, much to Vampire's relief. The two gently clinked glasses in quiet solidarity, Vampire making his way through this drink with slightly less discomfort thanks to mental preparation.

Sparkling felt his his mind numb just a little, the force of the two shots paired with the champagne he had earlier helping him relax and loosen up in spite of what had gone down at the end of the party. He plunked his head down on the counter, much like Vampire often did, and let out a deep, drawn out sigh. “Fuck… What a way to end a party, eh?” He mumbled, looking up at vampire with an exhausted smile. “Some dude got attacked by some animal or somethin’, and suddenly th’ police show up to boss us all around… but whaddyagonnadoboutit, I guess.”

At the mention of the attack, Vampire shifted uncomfortably, a gesture that didn't go unnoticed by Sparkling. “Hey, you wanna talk about anything?”

Vampire opened his mouth to speak, but didn't, closing his mouth again and grabbing his glass. “I think I could use one more shot.”

  


Much, much more than one shot later, Vampire found himself sprawled out on a nice leather couch, Sparkling's head on his lap as the bartender drunkenly rambled from the comfortable position of half-on, half-off the couch.

“Then… _Then_ there's the- ah fuck… Whaddaya call ‘em… Teenagers!” He grumbled, crossing his arms with an intoxicated huff. “Tryna get in fer shits an' giggles… Don' they know I gotta bar t'run!”

Vampire giggled and nodded along, intoxicated mind thinking everything Sparkling said was good and perfect despite the fact that he was only picking up, at most, fifteen percent of what the other man was saying. Sparkling looked up at him with a frown that only made Vampire laugh harder. “Don' think you're gettin' off the hook eitherrr… Y'got me worried, Vampy!”

The bartender reached up to cup Vampire's face, gently squishing his cheeks in an almost comical fashion. “I know you… You're keepin' secrets from me… I know you are…” he mumbled, furrowing his brow and meeting Vampire's eyes.

Vampire felt those emerald eyes burn into his very soul. He swallowed, mouth suddenly feeling very, _very_ dry. By all the gods above and below, he wished he could tell Sparkling everything. If he were to tell anyone about his dark nature, it would be Sparkling. The alcohol and those eyes were urging him to spill his thoughts, but he knew, deep in his brain, that he couldn't. He was to cowardly, he knew it. The fear of rejection was too strong.

However, his mind did beg him to say something- _anything_ \- to put Sparkling at ease. Come on, Vampire! Stop freezing up and _say something!_

“Your eyes are pretty.”

Smooth, Vampire. Real smooth.

Sparkling blinked in surprise, then sat up, trying to read if Vampire was goofing around- he had to be, right? Just joking around, like usual? He smiled, then laughed, assuming that yes, it had to be a joke. “Good one, Vamp.”

“I… I'm serious,” Vampire mumbled, sinking unto his cloak- he'd uncorked his emotions, now he had to deal with the mess. “Your eyes, an' your hair, an'- an' everything! You're pretty, an'- an' I'm sorry!”

Sparkling's laughter died, his face just reading as confused disbelief. Vampire cursed himself, gods why'd he have to get drunk here with sparkling, why'd he say any of that, was what he said really better than his secrets-

“Hey.”

He felt a hand on his cheek, gently bringing his attention back to Sparkling. Those emerald eyes held warmth, the slight smile gracing his lips showing reassurance.

“I think you're pretty, too.”

Vampire was so caught off guard by that comment that he almost didn't register Sparkling kissing him.

  
  


“Two attacks in a week. What has the world come to?”

Wizard sighed, pacing back and forth. He, for one, wished he was asleep right now, but the chief of police had kept him up for far longer than he'd like. “Officer, for the last time, I've sent my apprentice to review the case. She said she'd be stopping by the hospital to talk to the victims on the way back. Please, give her some _time_ to work.”

"With all due respect, Wizard, we don't _have_ time! We have a monster on the loose!"

"Actually, it's two monsters."

Wizard and the chief of police both turned to Cream Puff, who stood in the doorway, a few files and a magnifying glass in hand.

“What did you say?”

“I said: these attacks were done by two separate creatures.”

Wizard shifted his scarf, giving her a quizzical look. “Ah- care to explain, Cream Puff?”

She nodded, pulling papers from the files to spread over the table. “I should start by saying that I believe the two individuals are of the same species, but my evidence suggests they are indeed two different entities. First, let's start with the basics: Last Thursday, at approximately three o'clock AM, A certain mister Herb Cookie was found unconscious from blood loss. He had sustained a relatively shallow bite wound to the neck-shoulder region, as seen here-” she gestured to where the wound was illustrated on a chart in Herb's medical records- “along with a few other minor injuries, of which I will go into detail later. He was taken to the hospital, where he is expected to make a full recovery. When interviewed, he claims he remembers being attacked, but not who or what had attacked him.”

She flipped open the second file, tapping on it dramatically. “Tonight, around nine PM, Lemon Cookie was walking when he, too, was attacked. He sustained a bite to the back of the neck, leading to minor blood loss, but sustained no further injuries. He checked into the hospital at nine thirty and claims to have no recollection of even being attacked in the first place.”

“Not to be rude, but how does this prove there’s more than one culprit?”

“Patience- I'm getting to that. First, let's look at the similarities of the attacks. First, the bites themselves have a similar pattern,” she explained, pulling out close-up photos. “Humanoid teeth with elongated canines, seemingly on both the top and bottom jaws. Next, both bites were surrounded by heavy bruising, suggesting that the attackers were apply some kind of suction, most likely to draw out more blood. Both attacks happened at night, specifically when no one else was around to witness them. And, to top it off, both victims remember the color purple was involved in the attack, though neither knows why.

“However, there are many differences in the two events that leads me to suspect they were done by two different people. Let's start with the most damning piece of evidence right off the bat- the bitemarks don't match in size or dental work. The first attack's bite was a solid half-inch wider than the second's, with the other teeth showing various degrees of crookedness. In addition, one of the top canines is missing. This appears to have been caused by past mouth trauma, possibly from a previous failed attack. In the second attack,  the bite was smaller, all the canines were intact, and the rest of the teeth were relatively straight. These two very different dental patterns nearly confirm on their own that we’re dealing with two creatures, but for the sake of thoroughness let's examine the other evidence.”

Cream Puff pulled both Herb and Lemon's injury charts from their respective files, placing them side-by-side. “As mentioned before, Herb Cookie sustained several minor injuries in addition to the bite. You can see bruising along the arms, shoulders, and torso, along with shallow scratches on the arms, which are signs of a struggle. You may recall that Herb also remembers being attacked, but not by whom. On the other hand, Lemon Cookie sustained no such injuries and did not recall being attacked at all. It would also be good to note where the bites were located.” She pointed to the chart, circling the locations with her finger. “Herb was attacked from the front, Lemon was attacked from behind. This suggests the first attacker was either sloppy,or less experienced than the second.”

She stood up straight and crossed her arms, looking towards Wizard for approval. He nodded, then glanced up at the police chief, who was staring at the documents with a frown. “All this is well and good, but we still don't have any leads.”

“Well…” Cream Puff sighed, looking down. “Although I believe it's two cookies responsible, we’ve found no real leads on who they are. They left no DNA evidence behind at the scene, nor were there any witnesses.”

The officer sighed, rubbing his temple. “Great and wise Wizard, what is your suggested course of action?”

Wizard scanned the documents again and again, he himself troubled by the results written. “May I suggest a temporary curfew be put in place, starting at sundown? The attacks both occurred at night, so it may prevent further attacks if no one is outside at that time. We could also advise the populace against walking at night under any circumstances and to report any suspicious activities to the police or the crown guard. If these are put in place, hopefully our monsters will cease their attacks.”

  


Sparkling woke to a splitting headache, the gentle sunlight that drifted through the curtains feeling way too bright. He squinted, trying to shake off the hangover fog.

He was in his bedroom- okay, good, he'd made it back here despite the booze. He felt sore all over, not just his head. Seemed like he'd knocked over a few things, nothing too bad, huh, why was he naked- oh…

He looked besides himself, a lump in the covers next to him. A few strands of wine red hair poked out from underneath the blanket, and the lump had the tell-tale rising and falling of the other's breath.

Ah okay. So that did actually happen.

Vampire groaned from under his blanket cocoon when sparkling gently prodded it, a pair of amethyst eyes peering out of the shadows- before sitting bolt upright in surprise, then hissing in regret when he was hit by both the muted sunlight and his own hangover. “Sparky- ah fuck… Oh my gods-”

“Yeah, I'm feelin' that too, Vamp.”

There was an awkward silence, the pair just kinda staring, before Sparkling sighed and slid out of bed. “I'm, uh… I'm gonna go take a shower.”

 

Vampire nodded, dazed, and watched Sparkling leave, the panic really setting in when the bartender was out of the room. His drunk self probably ruined one of his deepest friendships by being stupid and drunk, like usual. Stupid Vampire… He wouldn't be surprised if Sparkling kicked him out to go die in the sun. Gods, why'd he have to ruin _everything?_

 

In the bathroom, fresh out of the shower, Sparkling was staring at himself in the mirror. That… That was a lot of bruises. Though,  from what he could remember, he was pretty sure he'd begged for them. Good job, drunk Sparkling, on being a freak.

He gingerly touched the most prominent, something that was clearly a bite on his neck. It stung, still tender from last night's… activities. Oh well, nothing some concealer couldn't take care of.

He pulled an oversized tee and a pair of boxers on, not really having the energy for buttoning up his fancier clothes. A sinking feeling hit him, and he sat down on the cold bathroom tiles, waiting for it to pass. He hoped his actions last night wouldn't chase away Vampire. He knew vampire had… Confessed, in a way, but he was drunk- they were both drunk. It meant nothing. He should know it meant nothing. Despite this, he still couldn't help but feel heavy hearted.

 

Sparkling made a simple breakfast for himself- oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar. Nothing fancy. He had offered some to Vampire, but the other man gently refused. He could tell Vampire was as hungover as him, so he pulled out a couple shot glasses.

“Hair of the dog that bit you?” He offered, pour a little Tequila into each. Vampire nodded, downing the shot and going back to his sulking. Sparkling's heart ached to see him like that.

“Hey, um…” Sparkling murmured, catch Vampire's attention. “About last night… Let's forget it ever happened, yeah?”

“Yeah. Agreed.”

  


Vampire stumbled through the door to his castle, closing the umbrella Sparkling had lent him. Closing the door cast him into near darkness, all the curtains closed to block out all sunlight. Alchemist looked over the banister, a disappointed look on her face. “And where were you all last night, eh?” She scolded, making Vampire roll his eyes.

“I could ask you the same question,” he growled, pointing an accusatory finger at his sister.

Alchemist's face went stone cold, glaring daggers at her older brother. “You know where I was.”

“Oh, _do I?”_

Alchemist rubbed her temples, clearly done with him. “Ugh, nevermind. You're not gonna be able to get out much anymore anyways.”

Vampire's snarl melted into a confused look, and Alchemist held up a paper.

“No more late nights, _big brother._ The royal guard's established a curfew.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Detective Cream Puff is on the case! Who do you think the other culprit is? 
> 
> As always, leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I love reading what you have to say!


	5. Pinot Noir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sparkling's bar has taken a hit due to the new curfew, but feeling mysteriously under the weather means the bar's buisness is the least of his worries. 
> 
> Vampire, cut off from his one and only food source, grows desperate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: This chapter jumps around quite a bit! Each large gap in the paragraphs represents a jump in time/location. Sorry, this chapter is kinda filler.

“Last drinks, everyone! Bar's closing!”

The bar's patrons collectively groaned and jeered, making Sparkling’s most recent headache about a thousand times worse. “Sorry folks, but I don't make the rules,” he apologized with a clearly fake smile, gently shaking up a drink for a customer at the bar counter. “Curfew starts at dusk, and the sun's already setting.”

That much  _ was  _ true- and it did frustrate Sparkling to no end. His profit from the bar had taken a heavy hit since the curfew had been established- shorter business days meant less customers, and less customers meant less money. 

He poured the drink and passed it to the customer, eyes passing over the empty bar stool in front of him, a sight that weighed down on his heart. He hadn't seen or heard from Vampire for nearly two weeks now, not since the party. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't worried about him. He understood that Vampire might not want to talk to him after… the  _ incident,  _ but he wished he knew where he was or if he was okay, at the very least. 

It didn't help that Sparkling couldn't get Vampire out of his mind. 

Every waking moment had Vampire's smile in the forefront of his mind, his amethyst eyes haunting his dreams. He didn't understand it- he'd been crushing on vampire for a long time now, why was he  _ now _ occupying his every thought? Admittedly, this sudden infatuation had started after the incident, so it might have just been a result of that. Yeah, that was probably it. 

_ Focus, Sparkling. Sun's going down, and you still have drinks to serve.  _

  
  


Sparkling locked up the liquor cabinet behind the bar, finally alone with his thoughts- but not for long. There was a rap on the window and he looked up into the dusk streets. “Sorry, bar's clo-”

He couldn't finish his sentence. 

Vampire stood on the other side of the glass, the palm of his hand pressed against the pane. Sparkling was shocked, but quickly came to the door to let Vampire in. “What are you doing here? It's almost curfew!” He scolded, taking absolutely no measures to stop Vampire from coming into the bar. 

Vampire stepped into the light, and Sparkling's heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. 

To put it lightly, he looked awful- again. 

He looked thinner than usual, and more pallid than ever. There was dark circles his eyes, and his steps were slow and laboured. Sparkling swallowed, then got to work, grabbing a bottle of Merlot and handing the whole thing to Vampire. “Here. On the house.”

Vampire smiled sadly, popping open the bottle with his nails and taking a swig. “Thanks, Sparky. You're a lifesaver.”

“What are you doing out this late, and in this condition to boot! You're gonna get yourself killed!”

Vampire plunked his head down on the bar counter, looking up at Sparkling with the saddest expression the bartender had ever seen. “Told you, Sparks, I'm a day sleeper. The curfew royally fucked up my sleep schedule.”

Vampire sat up, taking another swig from the bottle. “ ‘Sides, you're one to talk. Don't pretend you don't have bags under those pretty green eyes.”

That comment left Sparkling stuttering, trying to think of some comeback and failing to do so. “W-well, if you must know, I'm under a lot of stress right now! The curfew's been bad for business!”

Vampire's face fell a little at that, taking another swig of wine before standing up, shuffling back to the door. “Gotta go. Alchemist'll kill me if I'm out long after dark.” 

He started to open the door, but turned back at the last second. “Nice seeing you again, Sparks,” he murmured, before letting the door close, leaving Sparkling alone with his thoughts once again. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“You gotta eat something. Now drink up.”

Vampire wrinkled his nose at the partially coagulated liquid, obviously disgusted. “This is pig's blood. I can't have this.”

“You  _ will _ have it. We both know you're perfectly capable of consuming animal blood,” Alchemist grumbled, shoving the glass into her brother's hands. 

“It won't sustain me.”

“It will keep you from starving to death.”

Vampire grumbled, his hand shaking as he lifted the cup to his lips and drank the thick red liquid. He swallowed, shuddering. 

“There, now was that really that bad?”

“I hate you, little sister.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Sparkling stood in his bathroom, gingerly rubbing aloe lotion of his slightly reddened skin. He still couldn't believe he'd managed to get a sunburn just from being out at the market for a couple hours… Though he supposed it  _ was _ a pretty sunny day, and he should have had the foresight to put on sunblock. He sighed, wiping the excess lotion off his hands with a towel. 

He couldn't help but poke at the dark circles under his eyes. He had been absolutely exhausted these days, but hadn't been able to get any sleep at night. He was pretty sure it was just stress over work- business was  _ suffering _ from the nightly curfew, he was hardly turning a profit anymore. As soon as this all blew over, business would continue as normal and the stress would be alleviated. 

He hoped it'd blow over soon, though. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“I'm going out.”

Alchemist looked up from her work, concerned confusion on her face. “Vampire, it's curfew. You can't go out.”

Vampire faced her, and she recognized the look on his face- it was bloodlust, brought about by prolonged hunger. She sighed, adjusting her round glasses. “No one'll be out there. Like I said, Curfew.”

He growled, delirium clouding his eyes. “I… Need to try…” He hissed, looking towards the door. 

Her heart ached to see him this way, so she finally relented, grabbing his cape and handing it to him. “Be careful. Don't kill anyone.”

“No promises,” He murmured, and before Alchemist could object he was off into the night. 

  
  
  
  
  


“You heard about the latest attack?”

Vampire blinked back into consciousness, having drifted a little while sitting at the counter. He felt awful- he was still starving, having had no success last night. He had to stoop to drinking pig’s blood (ew) in order to make it through the day. 

“No, I hadn't.”

“It was a magician this time, apparently. It's got the Council of Wizards in a panic.”

“Huh. Interesting.”

Sparkling realized his friend wasn't listening, putting a hand on Vampire's shoulder. “Vamp, I'm saying this as a friend, but you look terrible. I think you should see a doctor.”

Vampire looked up at him, feeling how cold the bartender's hand was through his shirt. “I should tell you the same thing, Sparky. You look like you've got one foot in the grave already! I mean,  look at you-” he gestured broadly at the bartender, a lump forming in his throat as he really took in Sparkling's condition. “You're a twig! And you're freezing!”

Sparkling rubbed the back of his head, he knew it was true but he wasn't fully ready to admit it. “Yeah, I…” he sighed, moving his hands to rub his face. “I Haven't been eating to well lately. Food just… Tastes bad, you know? Bland and unappealing. Probably coming down with the flu or something. Or stress. Yeah, probably stress...” 

Vampire looked Sparkling in the eyes, delicately returning the shoulder touch. “You should take a break, Sparks. You're working yourself to death.”

Sparkling swallowed, those damn amethyst eyes capturing his heart and soul again. He looked away, flustered, and walked towards the wine shelf. “Any last drinks?”

  
  
  
  
  


Ice Candy Cookie strolled through the dark streets, unafraid of anything the night might hold. Why should she be? She was a professional athlete, and a generally large person to boot. The curfew was to protect those who couldn't defend themselves. She wasn't one of those people. Why, whatever the monster was would have to be stupid to attack her.

Stupid or desperate. 

Ice Candy caught a shadow in the corner of her eye, and she turned to face it, hoping to catch the creep once and for all- but there was no one there. Huh. 

Initial scare over and done with, she kept walking, laughing at herself for getting spooked by nothing. 

That was, at least, until something pounced on her back, clawlike nails digging into her shoulders for grip. She opened her mouth to scream, but her attacker managed to land a hit across her jaw, sending her stumbling into a wall. The hard knock to her head sent her tumbling to the ground, vision fading fast. The last thing the hockey player saw was a pair of amethyst eyes, then everything went black. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed, I'm gonna take a nap now.


	6. Leukocyte

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bar's closed- and for a good reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> buckle up, fellas. this one's heavy.

"Four victims- and two from after the curfew!"

Cream Puff exhaled, rubbing her temples. "Whoever the culprits are, they're not stupid. Ice Candy suffered a concussion, and the bite suggests that Culprit One was responsible- which does match up, since Culprit One's previous attack also led to additional injuries, albeit less severe ones."

Wizard adjusted his scarf sadly, making it cover more of his face. "Then, of course... there's the incident with our very own Cinnamon Cookie."

Cream Puff nodded solemnly, flipping open the file on the magician. "His case is particularly troubling. The bite does match up to Culprit Two, but the fact that they attacked him in his very own home..."

"Especially since he was a trained magic user!"

"Well..." Cream Puff interjected, pulling Lemon Cookie's file from the pile. "Lemon Cookie, Culprit Two's previous victim, has been shown to possess extremely volatile electrokinesis. Even with that defense, he was still successfully attacked. Now, I respect Cinnamon greatly, but his abilities... aren't the most tactile. Still, to be attacked in his own home... The attacker has to be either very brave or very confident in their own success."

Wizards sighed, walking from the table to the nearby guard. "Tell the guard to double the enforcement of the curfew. Also, send out a reminder to citizens to keep their windows and doors locked at night."

He hoped all this madness would be over soon.

 

 

 

“Fuckin' ‘course. Just my shitty luck.”

Adventurer glared at the sign on the Bar's door, along with the small gathering of disappointed cookies around him. Posted on the door, written in perfect handwriting, was a note:

_To my dear patrons,_

_Unfortunately, the bar will be closed until further notice, since I have recently fallen ill and need time to recover. Apologies, and thank you for your patience._

_-Sparkling Cookie_

“Of course, in the middle of all this fuckin' chaos, the bar's gotta be closed! Sparkling's probably off drinking margaritas an' laughing' at our trouble right now,” the explorer grumbled, sending embittered murmurs throughout the crowd. They suddenly fell silent, however, when a shadow loomed over them all.

“What seems to be the problem, gentlefolk?” A smooth voice asked, parting the crowd to let the proud and debonair Vampire through to the door. Even Adventurer, upon witnessing Vampire at peak health, backed off a bit.

“Sparkling's off playing hooky somewhere,” Adventurer explained as Vampire read the note on the door. Vampire adjusted his umbrella and furrowed his brow, something sparking and burning inside him when he heard Adventurer's tone.

"I see. You find out the bar that Sparkling Cookie loves more than anything is closed, with a clear explanation as to why, and your first assumption is that he's making up excuses and skipping work?"

"Well, he-"

"Have you even been paying attention to his condition for the past few days? Or were you too lost in your whiskey to actually look at the guy serving it?"

"No, I-"

"He shouldn't have left his  _house_ in his condition, much less served drinks. He's worked himself to the bone!"

"Well, yeah, but-"

Vampire got dangerously close to Adventurer, close enough for the explorer to see the flame in his eyes. "Tell me, Adventurer Cookie... do you care so little about Sparkling that you would have him work himself to  _death_ just so you could have a drink? Does his life have that little worth to you?"

Adventurer stood, dumbfounded and afraid, just staring up at the usually calm and collected Vampire. Vampire put a hand on his shoulder, the strength of his grip a silent threat. "Go home, Adventurer. Blackberry's waiting for you."

With that, he let go, watching Adventurer scramble away and turning to the rest of the group. "Go home, everyone. No drinks tonight."

The crowd scattered without any further argument. 

 

 

 

Sparkling pulled his blanket around himself a little tighter, shivering slightly- he was always cold nowadays, it seemed. He couldn't even pay attention to the T.V. right now, he was so exhausted, and nauseous, and cold, so very  _cold..._

The doctor hadn't been able to figure it out. They'd run all sorts of tests on him, but they all came back negative, leaving both doctor and patient utterly confused about his condition. 

He felt like he was wasting away, much weaker right now than he'd care to admit. Food he used to enjoy tasted like sand, and he couldn't keep it down even if he forced himself to eat. He hadn't slept at all in days, exhaustion taking over during the day and insomnia haunting the night. He hated that he had to close the bar, but these days it was a miracle if he could drag himself out of bed. 

He sighed, turning off the television and standing up slowly. He needed some fresh air- even a mansion can get stuffy when you're stuck in it for days on end. 

 

 

He was glad he'd decided to take the walk. The sun was just starting to set, and the world was quiet- a relief to Sparkling, as he'd been having bad migraines lately. The world was so calm, so beautifully quiet, that he couldn't help but get lost in the beauty of it all.

So lost, in fact, that he didn't notice that the sun was almost past the horizon- or that he was a lot farther from home than he should be.

He realized with a jolt that the sky was dark, glancing around desperately for somewhere to take shelter. To his horror and relief, he found himself on the gravel path leading up to Vampire Castle, having no memory of leaving town. But, he reasoned, he  _did_ know Vampire... he could probably get him to let him stay the night.

 

 

"Can you get the door? I'm in the middle of something!"

"You're closer to the door!" 

"And my arms are full. Get the door."

Vampire sighed loudly and dramatically, peeling himself off his couch and walking to the door. He opened the door just a crack, dramatically calling out "Whoooo is it?"

"It's me," said a familiar voice, quiet and cracked with exhaustion. "Can I come in?"

Vampire opened to door the rest of the way, heart hurting to see Sparkling looking... bad, to put it simply. "Oh, Sparkling! Of course... come in, you'll freeze to death out there!"

Sparkling quietly thanked him, letting his friend take his coat. Alchemist looked over at the unexpected guest, face visibly blanching when she saw his condition. "Hi, Sparkling..." she squeaked before turning to Vampire with an exaggerated, stressed smile. "Oh, dearest darlingest older brother, can I have a word with you?"

"Uh, yeah... Make yourself at home, Sparky, I'll be right back-"

Alchemist dragged her brother around the corner and into the library, clearly stressed and angry. "What. Did. You. Do. To. Him."

"I- I didn't do anything," Vampire yelped, raising his hands defensively. "I swear! I didn't attack him!"

"Why does he look like  _that_ then?!"

"I don't know! He thinks it's stress!"

Alchemist put her face in her hands, pushing up her glasses. "Oh my  _gods_ Vampire..." she groaned, then quickly scaled one of the numerous ladders around the library and started pulling a few books from the shelves. "I'm going to take a look at him, and if my hunch is correct, you're in a hell of a lot of trouble,  _big brother._ "

 

 

Sparkling sat in Alchemist's work space, watching her run around frantically to gather various pieces of medical equipment. "Alright, first off, lose the shirt," she commanded, Sparkling obliging with a little hesitation. She made note of the man's pail skin, protruding ribs... and the large bite mark on his neck. "Goddamnit, Vampire," she hissed under her breath, pulling out a stethoscope. She pressed it against Sparkling's chest, the man wincing as cold metal met skin. "Slow heartbeat... not good..." she sighed, writing down the approximate beats per minute in her notes. "Shallow breathing, too..."

Taking away the stethescope and pulling out a tongue depressor. "Open wide. Say 'Aah'."

Sparkling obliged, listening to Alchemist curse under her breath. "Okay... canines have started enlarging, okay, alright, okay..."

She wrote it down, then looked back at Sparkling. "Okay, you can put your shirt back on... you can go back downstairs, I need to talk to my brother."

Sparkling nodded, pulling on his button up and slowly getting to his feet. He did  _not_ like Alchemist's tone, a bad feeling sitting in his guts.

 

 

"You  _bit_ him?!"

Vampire whimpered, sinking into his cape. "Look, we were both drunk, things happen-"

Alchemist facepalmed, then clutched at her hair. "Vampire, we  _cannot_ deal with a fledgling! We're already in hot enough water!"

"I'm sorry, okay! I barely remember that night anyways!"

Alchemist glared at him, then let out a long, tired sigh. "Someone's gotta tell him."

"I will-"

"No, you're an idiot. I've done my research, I'll tell him."

Vampire was going to object, but she  _was_ right. "... Alright."

Alchemist put a hand on Vampire's shoulder- quite the feat, given the height difference between them. "... You can talk to him after, Vamp. I... I know this is also a shock to you." 

"Yeah, I... Yeah," Vampire sighed, looking down- he felt horrible.  His drunk idiot ass had cursed his best friend to a half-life, and he couldn't do anything to stop it. He felt like scum- he  _was_ scum, and now he had to live with the repercussions.

 

 

Sparkling looked up from the couch at the sound of footsteps. Alchemist stood in front of him, holding out a glass of blue liquid.

"Drink this. It'll help."

"What's this, some kind of potion?"

"It's gatorade."

Sparkling blinked, but took it and drank it, setting the glass down on an end table. There was a long pause before Alchemist spoke up again.

"So... you want the good news or the bad news first?"

"I... good news, I guess?"

"You're probably going to survive this, and we're here to support you."

Sparkling swallowed, glad he wasn't dying but feeling a sinking feeling in his guts. "So... the bad news?"

"Vampire bit you."

"So?"

"...  _Vampire_ bit you."

Sparkling furrowed his brow, obviously confused. Alchemist exhaled loudly. "For someone who seems like a smart guy, you're kinda thick, aren't you?"

Sparkling stared at her for a long moment, before something finally clicked. 

"He's not a real-"

"He is," Alchemist confirmed, taking off her glasses and wiping them off.

"Wait, so I'm-"

"Yep," she confirmed, putting her glasses back on. 

"Wait... does that mean Vampire got bitten by a different vampire?" Sparkling questioned Alchemist. She shook her head.

"No... he was born like that. You see, Sparkling..." She looked him directly in the eyes, a different shade of amethyst, and a familiar hypnotic feeling nagged at the back of Sparkling's mind- a feeling he had only felt from one other person's stare. "This condition... it runs in the family."

"You're... Also one?"

She nodded, standing up and starting to walk away. "Vampire, being the eldest, inherited the family name, but that doesn't mean I don't have my own fangs."

Sparkling stared at her, unable to fully process all the information thrown at him. "So... So what now?"

"Well..." Alchemist took a deep breath, flipping open a book she was holding. "When Vampire bit you, he injected you with venom, which started your transformation. At this point, your transformation will soon be complete. You will, for the first week or so afterwards, be extremely bloodthirsty- you will practically attack anything with a pulse. The only one who will be able to control you will be your sire- Vampire, in this case. If you survive this 'fledgling' stage, you'll become a full-fledged vampire."

Sparkling nodded, still in shock. "Okay... Okay, okay... I... I need time to process this..."

Alchemist nodded, heading towards the door. "Alright, just call if you need anything."

 

 

"He's been awful quiet, hasn't he?"

Alchemist looked up from her books, checking the time. "Hm, it  _has_ been three hours... Maybe you should go check in on him?"

Vampire flinched, fiddling with his cape. "I... I don't know... He probably doesn't want to see me-"

"You are his sire, Vampire," Alchemist scolded, shooting him a deadly glare. "You're behind this whole mess, now  _you_ have to be there for him."

Vampire swallowed, then nodded slowly. "Alright... I'll check on him."

 

Sparkling stared at the dark ceiling, hands clasped tightly. His mind turned over the information he'd been given again and again, but it almost couldn't accept it. Vampire was an actual vampire. He was going to become an actual vampire. Vampires existed. There was two in this house.

All because he hooked up with the guy while drunk. Honestly, he'd probably laugh at this whole situation if he wasn't so terrified. Wow sparkling, learn to use protection, he'd usually scold himself. As if vampirism was some run-of-the-mill STD and not a supernatural condition that would force him to change everything about his life.

He heard a squeaking sound and looked over, seeing the little red bat from the party sitting in his empty glass. "Oh, hey little guy..." he whispered, picking up the glass and raising it to his eyes. The bat looked weirdly concerned and scared, squeaking again as if distressed. Sparkling reached out to pet it, watching it relax into his hand. "I... I'm in deep shit, buddy," he murmured, glad he had someone to vent to. "I found out that Vampire... is, first of all, a vampire, and because of him, I-" he swallowed, a lump forming in his throat. "I'm never gonna see the sun again, little guy... I'm never gonna have a normal life after this! I should hate him! I should despise Vampire for doing this to me! But- but I-" Well fuck, there goes the waterworks. "I can't hate him! I... I love him! I love him so much, I... I can't bring myself to hate him, as much as I want to!" He put his arm over his eyes, chest wracked with sobs. "I'm hopeless... I really am pathetic, aren't I?"

He felt the weight in the glass shift, then become much heavier, making him drop it onto the cushions. He sat up in confusion, only to find himself face-to-face with Vampire himself. His heart skipped a beat, able to put the pieces together that he'd just confessed to the man.

"Vampire, I-" he started, before he found himself wrapped in a tight hug. He could feel Vampire's body shaking as he slowly returned it, hands clutching his velvet cape for support.

"I'm sorry..." Vampire whispered, voice cracked with his own tears. "I'm sorry... I... I love you... I'm sorry..."

Sparkling put his head on Vampire's shoulder, hugging him a little closer, feeling an alien comfort from the man's very presence.

 

"I forgive you, Vampire... I love you, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congrats on surviving this chapter! Leave a kudos and a comment if you liked this, I love hearing what you have to say!


	7. Cabernet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sparkling can't sleep. Vampire tries a hand at comforting him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a kinda short, fluffy, calm-before-the-storm chapter, hope you enjoy!

Sparkling was pacing again. Vampire could hear the footsteps from the room above his, even with his coffin's lid closed. He'd been at it all day- even after Vampire suggested sleeping when the sun was up. 

Vampire could understand where the worry was stemming from. Even though Sparkling- dear, sweet, forgiving Sparkling-  had insisted that he didn't blame Vampire for this, it hadn't stop him from feeling extremely nervous about what was to come next. Neither Vampire nor Alchemist could blame him for that. They both knew there was a pretty high chance of him not surviving when the  monster took over- a fledgling, as it turned out, needed a  _ lot _ of blood during its first week of life. Still, the siblings were determined to beat the odds- this was  _ Sparkling, _ and even ignoring the fact that Vampire was deeply and undeniably in love with him, they couldn't just sit idly by and let him waste away!

Still, the pacing had kept Vampire up for hours on end. For someone usually so light and elegant, Sparkling's footsteps were pretty damn loud. Vampire, exhausted and worried for his friend (were they friends, still? Vampire wasn't sure), decided to check up on the bartender.

Up the spiral stairs, first door to the left. Vampire knocked lightly, and, upon hearing an equally soft "Hm?", opened the door.

"Are you alright?" he asked, peaking through the cracked door. 

Sparkling peered back at him, emerald eyes looking almost luminous in the darkened room- Vampire was grateful that the bartender had heeded his warning about keeping the blinds closed. He sighed, rubbing his temples. "Yeah, yeah I... I've just thinking stuff over right now, sorry."

Vampire crept into the room, closing the door behind him. "Do... do you want to talk about anything?”

Sparkling shook his head, pacing away from Vampire. “It's nothing… I’m fine.”

Vampire swallowed, looking down at his feet. “I'm… I'm sorry, for… For this whole mess, okay? And I want to help you get through it, but… but I need to know what you need from me,  Sparky! If you have questions, or help, or even-” he swallowed again, closing his eyes tightly- “even if you never want to see me again, that's fine, I just- I just need to know-”

“Vampire.”

Vampire felt a hand gently tilt his chin up, then a sudden light pressure on his lips as Sparkling kissed him, taking initiative again. He let go after a second, leaving Vampire extremely flustered and confused. 

“I told you I forgave you,” Sparkling murmured, a hint of fire in those emerald eyes. “Your rambling is making my headache worse.”

Vampire blinked, before finding himself in another kiss, this one hungrier, more aggressive. He realized he was getting slowly backed into a wall, but let it happen, nails digging into the plaster and fine wallpaper. He reached his other arm out to wrap around Sparkling's back, holding him close and keeping them both right where they were. He felt something click together, this felt right, he felt a visceral hunger for something other than blood-

“What the  _ hell  _ do you two think you're doing?”

Vampire's eyes shot open, and he shoved Sparkling off of him, the bartender not putting up any fight. Alchemist stood in the doorway, a look of major disappointment and frustration painted on her face. “Need I remind you two of Sparkling’s  _ condition?  _ Honestly, he shouldn't even be out of bed right now!”

Sparkling chuckled nervously, raising his hands in the universal sign of surrender. Alchemist let out a long-suffering sigh, pulling off her glasses to rub her temples. “Honestly, with all the racket I thought you'd hurt yourself,  Sparkling…” She grumbled under her breath, before replacing her glasses. “Go to bed. Both of you. Honestly, I don't care  _ who's  _ bed, but I swear if you two try anything else I  _ will _ reduce  _ both _ of you to your base ingredients!”

She slammed the door as she stormed off, leaving the two men in a deep, awkward silence. 

“So… that happened…”

“Yeah… it did.”

“... Your sister is… charming.”

Vampire chuckled softly at that, finally tearing his eyes away from the door. “Yeah, she’s kinda a brat… but she's all the family I've got.”

Sparkling took a mental note of the faint sadness in his voice, before a yawn escaped him. Vampire looked over, smiling lazily. “Yeah, you can say that again.”

“Well… we're banned from making out, but… I'm not gonna kick you out if you wanna stay the… Day, I guess.”

Vampire replied by gently wrapping his arms around Sparkling and resting his chin on his head with a sleepy whine. Sparkling giggled, starting to slowly shuffle towards the guest bed as to not throw vampire off him.

Vampire flopped over onto the mattress, carefully pulling Sparkling down with him with a smirk. Sparkling squeaked when he realized he was falling, ending up in a pile of limbs and laughter. Sparkling pulled himself off of Vampire, feeling a strange sense of comfort in being near the other man. 

Vampire felt a soft tug on his long hair, glancing down to watch Sparkling carding his fingers through the wine-red locks, seeming lost in thought. Vampire watched him, just a little bit of worry creeping back into his mind. “Penny for your thoughts, Sparks?”

Sparkling sighed, now absentmindedly twisting Vampire's hair around his fingers. “Oh, I don't know… I was thinking, and I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but… are you and Alchemist behind the recent attacks?”

Vampire looked away, nodding slightly. Sparkling took this in, feeling a bit of strange relief over knowing the truth. Still, he still had questions. “How come the police haven't gotten involved until recently? Alchemist told me you were born this way… Surely there's been attacks before?”

Vampire took a deep breath, closing his eyes. “When… when our parents were still here, they brought us food. We didn't hunt for ourselves. After they… left, we had to resort to a variety of ways to sustain ourselves. Animal blood can only tide us over, and it tastes horrible. Alchemist had created a substitute that worked, but… we had a break-in a while back, and the book that was in was stolen, among other things. Alchemist has even broken into blood banks in the past.” He looked up, studying the cracks in the ceiling. “As for past attacks, well… we did get away with it before. We would go to different towns. We'd take on other forms- like the bat you've seen me as. We'd strike the most forgettable people, people society doesn't care about… Except…” Vampire swallowed, a slight quiver in his jaw. “I never forgot any of them, Sparky. I could never forget their pain, the fear in their eyes… They saw me as a monster, and they were right. I am a monster… a monster who can't control himself enough to not hurt people… a monster who ruined my best friend's life…”

Sparkling cupped his cheek, using his thumb to brush away the heavy tears that Vampire hadn't felt falling. “Hey… Hey, don't cry now…” he soothed, snuggling up to Vampire. “Don't blame yourself for this. We were drunk, and I… I started all of this. You're not solely to blame here.”

Vampire sniffled, pulling Sparkling into his arms. “You're too good, Sparks…” he chuckled sadly, his own hands carefully running through the bartender's strange, bubbling hair. “I'm going to make sure you get through this, no matter what. I promise, I'll help you through everything.”

Sparkling smiled into Vampire's chest, wrapping his arms back around his waist. “I love you, Vamp.”

“I love you too, Sparks… sleep, we still have a long ways to go and you need your strength.”

 

For the first time in days, Sparkling slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter's gonna get interesting and not in the good way  
> If you liked this fic, leave a kudos and a comment! I love reading what you have to say!


	8. Plasma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the dark of the night, a monster awakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;)

Sparkling had been perusing Alchemist's library when his life irreversibly changed.

The hunger pang hit Sparkling out of nowhere, making him double over in agony. It felt like nothing he'd ever experienced, as if his own stomach acid was trying to eat through him from the inside out. It made his senses scream, becoming oversensitive as his body demanded to be fed.

Vampire heard his groan, turning on his heels and rushing to Sparkling's side to help the bartender. Sparkling gladly took the arm he was offered, eyes watering from pain and hand clutched tightly over his stomach. "Fuck... Vamp, I-" he started, before he was cut off by a his gag reflex, coughing and hacking up blood all over Vampire.

Vampire blinked, white shirt speckled with crimson, before scooping up Sparkling into his arms and making a mad dash through the house, desperately searching for his sister. "Alchemist! Something's wrong! Alc! _Alchemist!_ "

Sparkling whimpered as every jostle made pain shoot through his body, nerves on fire from the infection that could claim his life. Everything was too loud. He could hear his heart- no, he could hear _Vampire's_ heartbeat, fast and loud and frantic, fearing for Sparkling's life. He coughed, reaching up to grab Vampire's cape, to grasp some small comfort to keep himself from falling into complete panic.

 

Vampire finally found Alchemist, almost crashing into her as she rushed in to see what had happened. "Vampire, what's going on-"

Vampire lowered Sparkling towards her, wincing as he heard the bartender whimper- he'd done this, he hurt Sparkling, he was _hurting_ Sparkling. "I-I don't know, he started spittin' blood- Alc, what's wrong with him?!"

Sparkling looked up at her, the most pitiful look on his pallid face. She looked at him, then at vampire, then at him again in rapid succession, pulling on her twin braids to (unsuccessfully)  try and keep herself calm and grounded. “Okay… okay, okay, alright, okay…” she stammered, starting to pace on the spot. “Okay, this is fine, this is _normal,_ Sparkling's just- oh who am I kidding, we need to act NOW! Sparkling's starting to fledge, we gotta get him to lie down- Just get- just get him to the guest room, I'll meet you there. Now!”

Vampire didn't need to be told twice, practically flying up the flights of stairs to the room Sparkling had been staying in. As gently as he could possibly be, he put Sparkling in the bed and pulled the covers over him- gods, his body temperature had dropped so low, he felt like a dead man already. “It's okay, Sparks, you're gonna be fine-” he tried to assure him, fluffing pillows and trying his damn hardest to make Sparkling comfortable. “Alchemist is gonna come, she'll know what to do- she always knows what to do-”

Vampire froze as he felt a cold hand on his arm, looking down into those emerald eyes, dull with pain. Sparkling smiled softly, in spite of his own suffering. The smile was enough to break Vampire, the redhead sinking to his knees next to the bed with a quiet sob. Sparkling reached out to pet him, the way he had done to the little bat. “Just… just stay with me, okay?” He whispered, voice hoarse. “Please, you don't need to do anything else… just stay.”

Vampire nodded, pulling up a chair from the corner and sitting down in it. “I won't leave… never, I won't leave.”

The doorknob turned, and Alchemist hurried in, holding a glass of something far too red to be wine. “Alright… This is the very last of the blood from the bank. We'll have to get more, but it should put you out of immediate danger. I had hoped I'd have more time to work on recovering the formula for the blood substitute, but we'll have to just figure this out as we go.”

She handed the glass to Sparkling, who sat up as much as he could to drink it. He found himself salivating at the scent, gulping down the glass as fast as humanly possible, desperate for relief from this burning hunger. The pain subsided a bit as he drank, dulling to a level Sparkling could handle. Relieved, he handed alchemist back the glass and layed back down, a sudden drowsiness hitting him.

Vampire watched Sparkling close his eyes, a new wave of panic setting in- which Alchemist noticed very quickly. “Don't worry, I just laced the drink with a painkiller. He'll be fine, he’s just sleepy.”

Vampire calmed down, leaning on the be a little and watching Sparkling who, at this point, had fallen fast asleep. “He’s gonna be alright, right Alc?” Vampire mumbled, looking for reassurance from his sister.

Alchemist looked at Sparkling, then back at vampire with a soft sigh. “I honestly don't know, Vampire. He’s strong, so he has a good chance of pulling through, but…” she trailed off, taking a moment to take off her glasses to clean them.

“But?”

“Without any blood here on hand, and with the substitute not finished, he could still starve once he’s actually fledged.”

Vampire gasped quietly, then looked back down at Sparkling. “We can’t… we can’t let him die. Not after everything.”

Alchemist, satisfied with the cleanliness of her glasses, put them back on. “Well then… we better figure something out real damn quickly.

 

Vampire locked the door as he left, taking Alchemist’s advice- it’d be easier to care for an aggressive, disoriented new vampire in a smaller space than in the entirety of the vast castle. "Alright, what else?"

Alchemist was writing up a list as he spoke, ripping it out of her book and handing it to her brother. "I need you to gather these materials from around the castle and the grounds outside. Some are for the substitute, some are just to keep sparkling under control."

Vampire nodded, looking over the list- he did make a mental note to get gloves, some of this stuff was pretty anti-vampire- then set out, hoping that alchemist knew what she was doing.

 

It had taken about three hours to gather everything, but Vampire had finally crossed off the last of the items on the list. Alchemist started sorting through them, humming a little as she did. "Alright, good, you got the iron, the garlic flowers, the moon-purified water-"

_Thud._

Both siblings looked up at the ceiling, noting the dust drifting down from it. After a moment with no further noise, Alchemist cleared her throat. "Probably just rolled out of bed-"

_Thud. Thudthud. Thud._

Alchemist inhaled sharply, turning back to the pile of materials. "Alright, so he's awake... Painkiller must have worn off. He's probably still disoriented-"

_THUD. Thunk. Thudthudthud. THUD._

The siblings glanced at each other,a certain concerned tension filling the room. "Vampire... you did lock the door, right?"

"Yeah, I know I did. There's no way he's getting out of that ro-"

_**CRASH.** _

~~~~Then, silence.

"... Did he just go through the-"

"He went through the window."

 

"You know, for someone who was half-conscious, he did an impressive amount of damage to this room."

Vampire nodded with a whistle, scanning the scene before him. It was, to put it lightly, utter chaos. 

The blankets lay in tatters on top of the bed, which had been reduced to a pile of loose feathers. Almost every piece of furniture in the room was tipped over or smashed up, and the walls were riddled with gashes. Blood stained the carpet and pooled on broken wood surfaces, and even dripped along the jagged edge of the broken window. 

"... We need to find him," Alchemist stated flatly, cringing over the damaged room. "A hungry vampire is a dangerous thing on its own. We have a starving, injured fledgling. Vampire, you see if you can follow his blood trail. I'll make sure anyone stupid enough to be out at this time gets to safety."

Vampire nodded, quickly transforming and flitting through the broken window. Alchemist took one last look at the wreckage of the room, then, with a long-suffering sigh, headed out as well.

 

 

Adventurer walked through the silent city streets, ducking out of sight of the guards. He was a grown man, he didn't need a lecture about the 'danger' of the night. He had his hunting knife with him- if anyone was to try anything funny, he could just pull that on them. Besides, he needed the air- Blackberry's constantly being on his ass was really starting to get to him.

He ducked down an alleyway, unlit by any streetlamps and out of earshot of the nearest guard. Assured that he was alone, he reached into his pocket for a pack of cigarettes he had snuck past Blackberry, lighting one- he didn't smoke often, but with all this chaos he needed it. 

In the flicker of the lighter's light, he thought he saw distant eyes.

he stepped back, dropping his cigarette and unsheathing his knife, brandishing it cautiously.There, hidden by shadows, was a figure, though Adventurer couldn't make out who it was in the dim light. "Who's there?" he demanded, fumbling into his bag to get his flashlight. "What are you doin' out here?"

The figure limped forward, and Adventurer could start to make out some details- it was clutching its arm, which appeared to be bleeding; its steps were unsteady and uneven, cuing in more that he was injured; and its eyes were a dull emerald color.

Adventurer squinted, unable to find his flashlight. The figure took another shambling step forward, and Adventurer finally recognized what- or,  _who-_ it was.

"Sparkling? Whatcha doin' here, buddy?"

Sparkling took another step forward, but froze when he saw the blade. Adventurer, realizing his threatening stance, dropped the knife, raising his hands up. "Hey-hey, buddy, it's okay... I'm not gonna hurt'cha, don't be scared."

Sparkling squeezed his arm, blood dripping through his fingers. Adventurer hissed softly when he saw the wound- damn, had he found another victim of the attacks? As if his feet were not his own, he started stepping forwards again, eyes locked on Sparkling's own. "Hey... You need help, bud?" he asked slowly, getting within a couple feet of the bartender.

Sparkling looked up like a deer in the headlights, and adventurer could see he was trembling all over- poor guy must be terrified. "Will you... help me?' Sparkling whispered, his voice a pitiful whisper.

Adventurer nodded, smiling gently. "Yeah... I'll help you..."

 

Wrong move.

 

Sparkling smirked, a ill-intended smile that made Adventurer's blood run cold with fear. Before he could react, Sparkling pounced, shoving Adventurer against a wall. With one hand, he lifted the archaeologist off the ground with inhuman strength, hand grasped steadily around Adventurer's throat. Adventurer struggled, coughing and gasping for air, trying desperately to break free of Sparkling's vice-like grip- he was not a weak man, but Sparkling was supernaturally strong.

Sparkling ran his tongue over his lips, and now Adventurer saw the four canines, long and sharper than the sharpest knife. He looked up into hungered emerald eyes, vision fading from lack of oxygen.

Sparkling leaned in close to his ear, whispering something that Adventurer would never forget, even as Sparkling's face already erased itself from his mind.

"Thanks for the help, Addy."

Then there was a sharp sting, and Adventurer's world went black.

 

 

Vampire, in bat form, flitted through the streets, following a light trail of crimson through the streets- honestly, he was almost impressed on how far Sparkling had gotten. All the same, he was still panicking. What if Sparkling had bled out? What if he'd been caught by the guards? What if-

The strong stench of blood hit his nose, and he looked down, sharp eyes seeing a blond figure facing a wall- wait, that was  _two_ blond figures-

He dropped down, transforming mid-fall, and stared in horror of the sight in front of him.

Sparkling turned to look at him, face stained red with the blood of the other man, who Vampire now recognized as Adventurer. The bartender dropped the archaeologist in a heap on the ground, eyes feral as he stared at Vampire, seemingly sizing him up. Vampire swallowed, stepping forward cautiously. "Hey there, sparks... Come here... I won't hurt you."

Sparkling was still for a long moment, before lunging at Vampire.

Vampire braced for impact, expecting an attack- and finding himself in a tight embrace, a bloody hand caressing his cheek. Vampire swallowed down a fearful sound, looking down into Sparkling's eyes.

Sparkling blinked, pupils going from pinpricks to saucers as he regained control of his senses. He looked around himself, seeing the blood on Vampire's face and clothes. "Vampire," he mumbled, reaching up to wipe away the handprint- only to find his hands covered in blood. His hands, his shirt, his neck... he started to turn to look behind him, but Vampire stopped him, wrapping his arms and cape around Sparkling's shoulders. "You don't want to see that, Sparks."

Sparkling looked up at Vampire, true fear in those emerald eyes. "Did... Did I..."

Vampire nodded grimly.

Sparkling gasped, starting to hyperventilate and sob into Vampire's shirt as the realization of what he'd done hit him full force. Vampire sighed, gently scooping Sparkling up into his arms. 

"C'mon, guards'll be here soon. Let's go home and get you cleaned up."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **:)**
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> Leave a comment and a kudos if you enjoyed, see you soon, same bat-time, same bat-channel


	9. Malbec

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long day- er, night. Time to get cleaned up and forget anything ever happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter, fluffier chapter this time! Just felt like writing something cuter for this one.

Alchemist felt a gust of wind hit her back, turning to the window where Vampire was perched. He was holding something, but it was obscured by the black velvet cape that draped around his shoulders. He stepped inside, and Alchemist closed and locked the window behind him.

“Any luck in finding him?”

Vampire nodded, carefully shrugging the cape behind his shoulder to reveal the bartender, asleep in his arms. Alchemist felt her heart drop into her stomach by the state he was in.

He was still covered in blood, though she could tell from the scent that the majority of it did not belong to him. Adding to this, he looked healthier than he had during his entire stay at the castle. Gone were the dark circles under his eyes and the boney figure, replaced by an almost morbidly _human_ complexion, complete with a light rosy tint to his cheeks.

“I'm sorry,” Vampire muttered, looking away from Alchemist in shame. “I couldn't find him in time to stop him.”

Alchemist took a deep breath, adjusting her glasses again. “Well, at least he won't die now. Get him cleaned up, he looks like a crime scene.”

Vampire nodded, carrying Sparkling away. Once he was out of earshot, Alchemist groaned, plunking her head down on one of her many desks. Great, add this incident to the list of bullshit her brother got into that she now had to deal with.

 

Vampire gently nudged Sparkling awake, watching him blink groggily and shoot a tired glare at Vampire. Vampire smiled gently, carefully putting Sparkling down. “Sorry to bother you, Sparks, but we have to get you cleaned up…”

Sparkling looked down at himself, face dropping from anger to sadness as he remembered what had happened. He clung to Vampire's cape, sniffling as he buried his face in the velvet. Vampire gently patted him on the back, trying to comfort the distraught bartender. “You'll feel better if you're cleaned up, Sparks. Trust me.”

Sparkling nodded, letting Vampire usher him into the bathroom. Once inside, Vampire started grabbing various toiletries, stacking them on the counter. “You need help, or would you rather do it yourself?”

Sparkling looked around, at himself and at the pristine bathroom, starting to realize he probably couldn't clean off all the blood caked on him himself- he'd never had to do anything of the sort before. “Ah… I could use some help, actually.”

Vampire nodded, already running a bath. “Alright, just…” he paused for a long moment, face heating up a bit when he actually thought about what he was doing for more than two seconds. He realized Sparkling was watching him, so he cleared his throat, trying to hide his own embarrassment. “Just, uh, leave your clothes on the towel rack…”

Sparkling watched him, before cracking a small smile, in spite of everything. For someone so cool and mysterious, Vampire was a serious dork. “You've seen me naked before, dumbass,” he chuckled, unbuttoning his stained shirt and slipping it off his shoulders.

“Well, y-yeah, but we were drunk and-and you know how it is! It's not like I really remember anything,” Vampire yelped, put on the defensive by Sparkling’s off-handed comment.

Sparkling walked over, pecking Vampire on the cheek and leaving him speechless. “It doesn't have to be weird unless you make it weird, Vamp. I wouldn't agree to this if it was anyone else.”

Vampire blinked, then nodded, still pretty red in the face. Sparkling smiled, looking over at the large basin. “Ah, bath's almost full…”

Vampire snapped out of his trance, quickly reaching over to turn off the water before it got too high. “Nice save, Sparks… well, bath's drawn, so I guess finish up… changing, and I'll get a washcloth.”

Sparkling nodded, throwing his pants and cumberbun in the pile before testing the water with a stained hand. It was hot, but not scalding, so he stepped into it, slowly lowering himself into the bath. Almost immediately, the water took on a reddish tint, and the stench of iron rose. Vampire took notice, grabbing a bottle of clear liquid and dripping a few drops into the water, masking the scent with something more floral. “Rose oil. Helps take the edge off the smell.”

Sparkling quietly thanked him, rubbing at the redness on his hands, watching it slowly flake off and melt away, much to his relief. Vampire wet the washcloth, using it to gently rub away the dried blood around Sparkling's neck and face.

Satisfied with his work, Vampire dunked the washcloth back into the water, cleaning the blood off the towel. Sparkling sighed, flicking dried blood out from under his fingernails. “Vampire… Who did I… You know…”

Vampire wrung out the towel, now concentrating on Sparkling's wound- one that had mostly sealed up by now, thanks to his meal, but nonetheless should be cleaned out just to be sure. “It was Adventurer, Sparks.”

Sparkling hissed as the cloth was pressed to his arm, still sensitive. “Is… Is he gonna be alright?”

Vampire was silent for a long moment, trying to think of the words. At long last, he sighed, squeezing the rusty water out of his towel. “I don't know, Sparkling. He was in pretty bad shape when I found you.”

Sparkling curled in on himself, hugging his arms to his chest. “I'm sorry… I'm sorry…”

Vampire rubbed his shoulder, trying to offer any comfort to the other man that he could. “Hey, you'd have died if you hadn't. That's the harsh reality of this curse… you gotta do some pretty horrible things to stay alive.”

Sparkling nodded, lip trembling a little as he tried not to cry again. Vampire patted his shoulder, then stood up, grabbing a fluffy towel from the rack. “C'mon, bath water's getting cold, and you've gotta be exhausted.

 

Vampire pulled a pair of nice pyjamas from one of his dresser drawers, handing them off to a toweled Sparkling. He averted his eyes as Sparkling pulled them on, still just a little hesitant about looking at him in the nude. “Alright, so the guest room's totalled, and Alchemist would actually murder me if I put you up in her room, so you're gonna have to sleep in here. Don't worry, it's way comfier than it looks.”

Sparkling looked at the coffin quizzically, but decided to go with it- at this point he knew not to think too hard about Vampire's peculiarities. “Alright, but… Where will _you_ sleep? It's almost dawn, after all.”

Vampire rubbed his neck, damn it, he hadn't thought about that. “I, uh… guess I'll sleep on the floor?”

Sparkling looked in the coffin, feeling around the cushioned inside. “You know, neither of us are very big… we could probably both fit, though it might be a bit of a tight fit.”

Vampire looked over at Sparkling, realizing the bartender had a smirk plastered across his face. “Oh, well, uh… I mean, if you wanna try it…”

Sparkling nodded, clamoring into the wooden box- seemed like vampire had bought one that was too big, anyways, there was quite a bit of space inside. Vampire slid in, gangly limbs pretty much filling in any space that remained inside. “Alright, alright, little cramped-” the redhead mumbled, a split second before finding Sparkling's arms wrapped tightly around his waist.

“I prefer the term ‘Cozy’” Sparkling chuckled, burying his face in Vampire's chest. “Sounds better. Comfier.”

Vampire couldn't help the lovesick grin that spread across his face as he closed the coffin lid.

 

Alchemist grumbled as she cleaned up the last of the blood around the guest room, hearing the steady drip of the storm rolling in outside. Well, at least the rain would wash away the trail outside. The gods knew she didn't need another thing to do tonight.

All she wanted was to finish up, get some sleep, and figure out how to solve everything else in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUESS WHAT we got fanart! Check it out and give the artist some love!   
> http://shiorimia.tumblr.com/post/182778827957/fanart-for-skeletalconstellations-vampsparkling
> 
> Thank you for reading, leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed, I love hearing what you have to say!


	10. Biliverdin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alchemist is summoned by Wizard and Cream Puff. Vampire and Sparkling get into trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things are starting to come together hehe  
> Next chapter will be heavier in tone.

Wizard waited outside the hospital room, doing his best to comfort a distraught Blackberry. He had never seen the usually cold and collected maid so emotional- but he understood why. Another attack- and a far more serious one at that. According to the doctors, Adventurer would be lucky to make it through the night. 

Cream Puff slipped out of the hospital room, motioning for Wizard to come talk to her. Wizard patted Blackberry on the back, then stood up, following Cream Puff into an unused room. “So, which one was it?”

Cream Puff Shook her head, taking off her hat and holding it to keep herself grounded. “Neither of the original culprits. This bitemark is unique.”

Wizard inhaled, the breath hissing between his teeth. “Puff, are you absolutely sure?”

She nodded, looking through the case files for the new polaroids she'd just gotten. “The bite is too large to be Culprit Two's, but doesn't have the unique, damaged dental pattern of Culprit One. Not only that, but the canines are smaller than either of the previous culprits'. And, thirdly, the victim sustained heavy bruising around the neck, suggesting strangulation- none of the previous attacks were this violent.”

Wizard slumped down into a nearby chair, eyes wide with horror. “Pardon my French, but  _ fuck…  _ Two monsters was hard enough, but  _ three?  _ After the curfew was put up?”

“Well… I do have  _ some  _ good news.”

Wizard looked up, hope returning to his eyes. “Yes?”

Cream Puff held up a sample bag, containing a blood swab. “This blood was also found at the crime scene, leading up to the victim. Its DNA doesn't match that of Adventurer. It still needs to be examined by an expert but…” She smiled, putting the blood down in front of Wizard. “We have a lead, and I have a hunch that it might lead us to the first two culprits, too.”

  
  


Sparkling opened his eyes slowly- which, it turned out, didn't do anything, because he was still in pitch darkness. Fumbling around, he felt the warm thing that was Vampire, reaching around until he eventually found his face, patting his cheek gently. The redhead chuckled, effortlessly finding Sparkling's own face and pressing a kiss to his forehead. Sparkling giggled, returning the favor with much less precision, letting Vampire help guide him into lazy morning- sorry, evening- kisses. 

Their casual make-out session was interrupted by a loud knock that almost made Sparkling jump out of his own skin. “Hey Vamp, you awake?”

“Uh… Yeah-”

“OK, good. I can't find Sparkling anywhere, and I'm kinda worried he got ou- oh.”

Sparkling chuckled nervously as the coffin’s lid was opened, a very exhausted and disappointed looking Alchemist peering down. In the dim light, he could see out of the corner of his eye that Vampire had gone beet red, and Sparkling himself was wondering if Alchemist would interrupt every makeout session they had from now on. 

Alchemist cleared her throat, slowly closing the coffin lid. “Right… well, since  _ that  _ question has been answered, I am leaving for the night- I’ve been summoned to the Magic Council. I’ll be back before sunrise, Vamp. Stay out of trouble, both of you.”

Her footsteps got quieter, then the door clicked shut, leaving Vampire and Sparkling alone once again.

After she left, Vampire let out a long, drawn-out whine, burying his face in his pillow. “Every time… Every single time….”

Sparkling patted his back, reaching up to open the coffin lid- it was a bit stuffy in there. “Guess that’s our wake-up call,” he hummed, sitting up and untangling himself from Vampire. “I need to take a leak anyways… ‘scuse me.”

Vampire nodded, letting his friend out of the box. “Third door on the right, down the hall. Can’t miss it.”

  
  


Sparkling dried his hands on a spare towel, taking the opportunity to fix his hair a bit in the mirror. He had to admit, he looked better than he did  _ before _ he got bitten, although he was ashamed to say it. No bags under his eyes, a certain healthy glow to his face, hell he wasn’t even blemished in any way. He looked damn near  _ perfect, _ a fact that made him feel extremely uncomfortable in his own skin- he looked unnatural, unsettling.

He unlocked the door, not noticing that his foot had caught on the towel rack.

The loud crash made him literally jump into the air, but the floor looked way,  _ way _ farther down than it had just moments ago. And everything seemed bigger. Much bigger.

He landed in a pile of towels with a  _ splat _ , knocking the wind out of him. He tried to stand up, but he couldn’t get his legs to respond. He desperately tried to knock the towels off him with his arms, but they felt delicate and weighed down as he tried. He gave up, deciding to just call for help.

He opened his mouth, but all that escaped was a loud, terrified squeak.

 

Vampire had been pouring himself a morning glass of shiraz when he heard the crash, almost spilling his wine. He gulped it quickly, then ran to investigate, making sure Sparkling hadn’t seriously hurt himself in any way. 

He got to the bathroom, hearing a rustling and some strange, squeaky sounds. He tapped on the door gently. “Sparkling? You okay buddy?”

No answer, just more rustling and squeaking. Vampire tried the door and, upon finding it unlocked, opened it.

At first glance, Vampire couldn’t find Sparkling.The bathroom was apparently empty, save for whatever was squeaking more loudly than ever. Vampire’s eyes trailed down, briefly scanning the toppled towel rack. One of the towels was moving and seemed to be the source of the squeaking.

Right away, the gears started turning in Vampire’s head, although he could hardly believe his own hunch.

He gently lifted the towel, and a little head popped out, shaking itself off and wrapping leathery wings around its bubbling golden body. Tiny emerald eyes blinked up at Vampire, obviously terrified as it squeaked again and tried to crawl towards him.

Vampire lifted the tiny bat as gently as he could, raising it to his face, eyes wide with shock. “... Sparkling?”

The golden bat squeaked, more bubbles drifting through its gelatinous body. Vampire tried to control the smile that was already twitching on his lips, before giving in to the stupid grin. “Oh my GODS Sparks. I can’t believe- you’re actually-  _ oh my gods.” _

Sparkling hissed indignantly, glaring at him in the most adorable way possible. Vampire gently deposited him into his empty wine glass for safe keeping, slowly walking out of the bathroom. “Alright, alright, I get it, you probably want to change back… Just uh… Shit, I don’t know how to describe it- try willing yourself into human form?”

The bat squinted, before his face scrunched up in intense concentration, which he only managed to hold for a couple seconds before giving up with a mournful squawk . Vampire made a soft “aw” noise, earning another glare from the little bat. 

Vampire reached out gingerly, gently petting Sparkling’s head the way the bartender had done to Vampire before. The bat perked up, then melted into his hand, practically drooling from the attention. Huh. He guessed head scritches were universally good for bats. 

“So… I guess you can’t turn back… Don’t despair, it’ll wear off quickly enough,” Vampire promised, sitting down in a nearby armchair. “You’ll just get tired, and your body should revert back to normal.”

Sparkling looked up, then squeaked again, flapping his wings a little and actually managing to hover for a couple of seconds before falling back into the glass. Vampire smirked in amusement. “You can't fly yet, can you?”

Sparkling Shook his head, wrapping his wings around him tightly. Vampire thought about his options, then turned himself into his own bat form with a poof. “C'mon,” Vampire squeaked, the two now able to properly communicate. “I'll show you the ropes.”

 

Alchemist arrived at the council, although the only others in attendance were Wizard and Cream Puff, who were deeply engrossed in  _ something _ . She cleared her throat, and both master and apprentice looked up. “Ah, hello Alchemist,” greeted Wizard. “Come in, sit down… we have lots to discuss.”

Alchemist felt a sudden inexplicable dread wash over her, but she pulled up a seat, keeping her best poker face. “What do you need from me?” she asked cooly, readying herself for the worst.

Cream Puff glanced towards the table, which Alchemist now saw was covered with evidence and files regarding the attacks. “We could use your assistance, Alchemist, as a practitioner of both science and the magical arts,” she stated, gesturing to the case files, “in cracking the case of our city’s recent string of attacks. We have gathered a few pieces of DNA evidence during our investigation of the last attack, and we need your help in analyzing it.”

Alchemist glanced at the bag of blood samples, clearing her throat to hide her unease. “Ahem, not to sound disrespectful, but wouldn’t Dr. Wasabi be more appropriate for this job? Her forte is more in the realm of genetics and biology than mine.”

Cream Puff and Wizard shared a glance, before the latter sighed. “We considered bringing her in, but that woman is, with all due respect, completely and utterly bat-shit crazy. Besides, we strongly suspect the culprit- or, in our case,  _ culprits-  _ to be of the supernatural variety, so we believed a magic user would be more appropriate for this task.”

Alchemist nodded, pulling a pair of thick rubber gloves out of her bag and putting them on. “Alright, tell me what you’ve found so far.”

  
  


It was almost morning when Alchemist finally opened the doors to Vampire Castle, exhausted from a day of being on edge near constantly. When she saw the state of the house, however, she just felt quiet despair.

Everything was chaos. Things were knocked over or messed up. Books were scattered on the floor. Paintings were tilted. Furniture was upset.

And in the midst of all this chaos, two winded-looking bats were flopped over on a table.

“What the  _ fuck _ did you two get up to today?” Alchemist growled, grabbing both of them by the ear to look her in the eyes. 

The two almost immediately changed back from the painful tug. “Ow- Alc- Please- Ow Ow Ow-” Vampire yelped, trying to escape her ear-tugging fingers. “I can explain-”

Sparkling nodded, relieved to find himself back in human form but not as pleased about the pain.

“Sparkling turned into a bat- so- so I thought I’d teach him how to fly!” Vampire whimpered, still trying to wrestle her hand off. 

“ _ In the house?!”  _

“You said to stay out of trouble-”

“DOES  _ THIS _ LOOK LIKE STAYING OUT OF TROUBLE?!”

Sparkling had to admit, she had a point. Vampire shrugged sheepishly, and she scoffed, letting go of both of them. 

“You’re already in deep shit,” Alchemist snarled, crossing her arms and watching the two recover from the brief ear trauma. “Sparkling left his blood all over the crime scene,  _ and _ Vampire left a few hairs behind!”

Sparkling and Vampire glanced at each other, the gravity of the situation starting to sink in. “Oh…”

“Yeah,  _ oh. _ ”

Sparkling looked at her, fear all over his face. Alchemist took a breath, calming herself down- Sparkling was just a fledgling, he didn’t know better. “Sparkling, I’m sorry, but I’m gonna have to send you home. They’re on our tails, and it would be wiser if we weren’t all in the same place at once. I don’t do this out of cruelty- once this blows over, we can reconvene if you want to,”

Sparkling swallowed, then nodded, dusting himself off. “Oh… alright, I’ll get out of your hair. Just uh… Keep me updated on everything, ok? And… and thanks for letting me stay.”

Alchemist nodded, watching the bartender start to slowly walk off. “Take an umbrella- dawn should be around now, and you do  _ not _ want to be caught in the sun.”

He nodded, pulling one out of its stand- taking one last look at Vampire.

With inhuman swiftness, Vampire was next to him, hugging him tightly. Vampire felt the other man slip something into his pocket, whispering “call me if there’s any problems” into his ear.

With that, Vampire let go, taking a step back. Sparkling swallowed quietly, then rushed forward, giving him a quick but tearful hug before rushing out the door.

 

Vampire watched the door for a long moment, unmoving, until he felt Alchemist gently tug his cape.

“I know you’re sad, but I am not cleaning up the mess you made.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed, I love reading what you have to say!


	11. Petite Sirah

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life starts to return to normal, but everyone is walking on eggshells- one wrong move, and everything will crack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy. Shorter chapter, but we're nearing the end goal boys.

Sparkling tore down the note he'd left on the bar door, flipping the sign to “Open”. He was still tired- he'd had to wake up early in order to actually get any work done, with the curfew and everything. All the same, he had to get back to work; it'd been far too long since he had and he felt a deep emotional need to occupy himself with something other than his rapidly changing life. Besides, summer was approaching, and the days were getting longer- perfect for buisness. 

Pretty soon, people took notice, slowly drifting in when they saw the lights were on. Mostly old regulars, many of whom asked how Sparkling was doing, if he was okay, to which he simply responded with something along the lines of “feeling better than ever!”

One seat remained empty, much to Sparkling's sadness. 

He hoped Vampire might stop by, but it seemed the redhead was making himself scarce. With what Sparkling now knew about Vampire, he couldn't blame him- with the investigation still underway, he probably wanted to stay out of the spotlight. 

Someone else came in to fill his seat, high heels clicking as she strolled up to the bar. Sparkling spotted her, smirking in spite of himself. 

“Heya, Cheesecake. How you doing?”

Cheesecake sat down, adjusting her boa as she did. “Sparkling, darling! I have been worried sick for you! When I saw you had closed the bar, I tried giving you a call, but you didn't pick up!”

Sparkling chuckled nervously, pouring her usual drink into his shaker. “Sorry, I was staying at Vampire's place for a few days- Alchemist wanted to test a cure for my illness.” Not entirely true, but a little white lie never hurt anyone. “Didn't mean to scare you, doll.”

Cheesecake pouted, leaning on her hand. “You  _ are _ feeling better, right darling? I would hate to watch you get sick again-”

“I  _ promise _ , Cake, I've never been better! I swear on my honor as a bartender and mixologist!”

He poured the peach margarita, sliding it over to his old friend. “Here- on the house, for making you worry.”

She greatfully took the drink, taking a sip from her salt-edged glass. “I don't know how you do it, Sparkling,” she hummed, almost to herself. 

Sparkling raised an eyebrow. “Do what, doll?”

“Deal with all this-” she gestured to the room around her- “all on your own! Especially after being sick for three weeks!”

Sparkling smiled, drying a glass absentmindedly. “Well… you could say I'm a bit of a changed man.”

Cheesecake wondered what he meant, but didn't ask, noting the wistful look on her friend's face. 

 

Vampire paced, trying to ignore the hunger gnawing at his gut. Alchemist had summoned him into the living room, but for what,  he wasn't sure. 

She suddenly entered, holding a bottle of wine-red liquid. “I need you to taste this,” she stated, shoving the bottle into Vampire's hands. “I need a second opinion on this new formula.”

Vampire looked suspicious, but obliged, taking a long swig.

“Well?” Asked Alchemist, hope in her voice. 

His nose crinkled in disgust, and he shook his head, passing her back the bottle. “Bitter… way bitter. No. Bad.”

Alchemist sighed, deflating a bit. “Yeah… That's what I thought too. Oh well, back to the drawing board…”

Vampire patted her back, genuinely trying to comfort his sister for once. “I'm sure you'll solve the puzzle soon enough, Alc.”

“I just…” she sighed deeply, rubbing her tired eyes, “I am just so worried… Wiz and Puff are really right on our asses now, and I want-” she sniffled, sinking down and tucking her knees into her chest. “I want everything to be normal again! I hate having to lie and steal just to stay alive! I don't wanna end up like Mom and Dad!”

Vampire watched quietly as his sister, his sweet baby sister who always had everything in control, broke down in tears. He couldn't blame her for it, either- he felt awful, watching the the only family he had left in the world reach her breaking point like this. “Alc…” He murmured, lowering himself to her level to give her a hug. “We'll get through this, Alc. We always get through everything in the end.”

  
  


Sparkling was still in the bar, feeling actually lively now that the sun had gone down. He had taken the opportunity to deep-clean his bar, disposing of old product and noting what he'd have to restock, cleaning gum from under tables and counters, pouring himself a glass of a strange concoction made up of the dregs of near-empty bottles (it tasted awful, but he drank it anyways). 

There was a knock on the window, and Sparkling's heart sped up, rushing to the door to let Vampire in. Those tired amethyst eyes lit up when they met emerald, and Vampire embraced Sparkling, picking the shorter man off the ground for a split second with a smile. 

When he was put down again, Sparkling closed the door after Vampire and closed the blinds, taking the public's eye off the lovers. Vampire couldn't help but press a couple kisses to Sparkling's cheek, the bartender giggling like a schoolboy when he did. “Vamp- oh my gods Vampire, please-” he snorted, his hand finding itself on his- friend? Boyfriend? Sire? Hell if he knew how their relationship should be labeled- shoulder. “Not in the bar! I gotta- I gotta be professional!”

Vampire chuckled, caressing his cheek gently. “No one's here but us, Sparks. We got the bar to ourselves”

Sparkling grinned in spite of himself, catching Vampire in a kiss. “Well then, Mr. Vampire… we  _ could _ call this a private event…”

Vampire practically purred, returning the kiss with a hum. Sparkling's hand moved from his shoulder to his hair, fingers weaving themselves through red strands. Sparkling felt himself stepping back, until he eventually bumped into the marble counter if the bar, gripping the lip of the bar for support. At this point, their light, carefree kisses had become heavier, more earnest, more hungered. Sparkling had no idea how this had happened, how he'd ended up lip-locked in his own bar at almost midnight with someone he loved and who loved him back, but honestly he didn't care. 

Vampire started moving lower, peppering his chin and neck with gentle kisses, and Sparkling finally came to his senses, sobering up just a bit from his love-drunk haze. “Ah- Vamp-” he chuckled, making no move to push him off. “We should take this somewhere more, ah- private, yeah?”

Vampire looked up, the smirked, scooping Sparkling up the way he had many times before and carrying Sparkling out of the building, the door locking automatically. “Alright, love… where to?”

Sparkling giggled, pointing to the general direction of his Manor. “To my house!”

The pair rushed off, the only living souls still awake in the deep, dark night. 

  
  


Cream Puff looked over the new information given to her by Alchemist, furrowing her brow.

Things weren't adding up. 

So far, she'd found five contradictory statements in Alchemist's report, which wasn't even counting the inconsistencies between her and Cream Puff's findings. 

The report itself was sloppy, at best. Rushed. Hesitant to share it's truths. At first, Cream Puff had assumed it was because Alchemist was under pressure or nervous about the attacks, but her mistakes seemed just a little too consistent, too deliberate. 

Alchemist wasn't making sloppy errors, she was deliberately hiding something. 

Which, Cream Puff realized with a sinking heart, meant she was a suspect. 

She didn't want to be suspicious of her- Alchemist was one of the oldest members of the magic council, and was practically an older sister to the young wizard. And yet, here was clear evidence that she had some hand in all this chaos, betraying the very council she'd worked so hard to keep running. 

Cream Puff gathered the files shakily, double checking her list of things that didn't make sense within them. “I… I've gotta tell Wizard,” she murmured, trying to keep it together. 

“I'm afraid I can't let you do that,” whispered a cold, familiar voice. 

Cream Puff felt icy terror run through her veins, breath catching in her throat as a black gloved hand carefully placed itself on her shoulder. She could see amethyst eyes out of the corner of her own, a disappointed frown on the woman's face. 

The woman leaned down ever-so-slightly, cold, calculated. Cream Puff trembled like a leaf, paralyzed with fear. 

There was a glint of sorrow in those cold gemstone eyes as the one she had trusted with her life revealed her true nature. 

“Forgive me, Puff.”

There was a sharp sting of fangs on flesh, then Cream Puff's vision faded to black.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone's in deep trouble ;) 
> 
> Leave a comment and a kudos if you liked this, I love hearing what you got to say!


	12. Platelet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sparkling is faced with the end of the road ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot happens. I'm sorry.

Sparkling awoke at dusk, bleary eyed and tired in the best way possible. He looked over at the man currently spooning him, felt his soft breath against the skin on his back, saw the mussed-up mess of red hair that he knew was softer than silk, and he couldn't help but smile.  

This was real, and it was good. It was reality, not some dream, not some pining fantasy Sparkling had created. The past three weeks didn't feel as real as this- so much had happened so quickly, leaving the bartender mentally winded. Here, in this man's arms, he felt like he could finally catch his breath. 

Vampire stirred, pulling Sparkling closer with a soft, unintelligible mumble. Sparkling smiled wider, turning over to run his hands through that deep red hair. “Morning, starshine.”

Vampire cracked open one eye, before burying his face in Sparkling's chest. “Five more minutes…”

“Don't worry, Vamp… I'm not going anywhere.”

Sparkling watched Vampire relax again, falling back asleep. He sighed softly, contently, and glanced around his room. 

He remembered the last time he'd woken up like this, Vampire in his bed. He was hungover and regretful, unable to recall the vast majority of what had transpired the night before. Now? There was no regrets, no splitting headache, no fear of abandonment. He now knew Vampire's feelings were genuine, not some drunken slip of the tongue. There was no shock, just soft moments like this. 

Sparkling kissed the top of Vampire's head, shifting slightly as he sat up slowly. “I'm going to get cleaned up, okay?” he whispered, watching Vampire blink open those amethyst eyes again. Vampire nodded, slowly letting go. “...come back soon, ‘kay?”

Sparkling nodded, standing up and stretching out his tired muscles. “Love you…”

“...you too.”

 

A tiny purple bat wriggled through the cracked-open window at Vampire Castle, transforming mid-tumble into her true form. 

Alchemist sat on the ground, trembling and hyperventilating, mouth stained with tell-tale crimson. Where was Vampire? She needed to tell him, she needed to tell the fledgling too- she had royally fucked up, she'd ruined them all. She needed to get ready, they'd need to get out of here  _ now _ , needed to leave everything behind to ensure their own survival. 

She grabbed her phone, rapidly dialing her brother's number. 

It rang once, 

then twice, 

Then a sleepy sounding voice picked up, grumbling “what do you want, Alc?”

“I need you to come home. Bring Sparkling.”

“Alc, what's wrong-”

“I-I'll explain at the castle, but you gotta come now!”

  
  


Wizard had found his apprentice unmoving in a pool of her own blood, icy horror quickly spreading through his veins. He rushed to her side, cradling her limp body in his shaking arms. She was pale, so very  _ pale _ , and he couldn't feel her breath- if it was there at all. His voice finally became unstuck from his throat, and he wailed, loud enough to alert the guards outside. 

Cream Puff was rushed away to the hospital, where Wizard sat now, by the side of his apprentice's bed. The doctor had told him not to be hopeful- it would take a miracle for her to even make it through the night. 

Wizard had never realized how  _ small  _ she was until now, a fragile little child under a mountain of blankets, their best attempt to make her as comfortable as possible for whatever happened next. 

The machine beeped steadily, a painfully slow and solemn drumbeat that was the only sign of life in Cream Puff’s body. 

“Puff…” Wizard whispered, rubbing his tired eyes. “I'm sorry, Puff… I'm sorry I wasn't there. I'm sorry this happened to you.”

He looked down at the file on his lap, trying his best to ignore the deep scarlet stains on the paper. The file contained Alchemist's notes, along with Cream Puff's review of them. 

“I promise… I'll get to the bottom of this, Puff. Whoever did this will pay dearly.”

  
  


“Then someone started coming up the stairs, so I panicked and fled. I… I left the file behind at the scene.”

Vampire had a grim look on his face, which in turn made Sparkling extremely nervous. It was never a good thing when Vampire took something this seriously. “What are we gonna do?”

Vampire and Alchemist exchanged a glance, and Sparkling's sense of dread grew exponentially. “Sparkling… go home. Pack everything you need or want to keep into a backpack, and meet up back here. Make right any wrongs you wish, but  _ make sure someone knows you're coming here,”  _ Alchemist instructed, Vampire nodding in agreement. “Do you have a will?”

“Yeah, but-”

“Tell whoever is in it where it is. You have  _ tonight _ to do all of this. Wizard will figure out who's behind Cream Puff's attack pretty quickly- that kid's always been too smart for his own good.”

Sparkling nodded, swallowing down all his fears, trying to figure out what Alchemist was going to do.

Vampire gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, looking him in the eyes. “We've had a plan since the beginning, Sparks. We both knew the day would come where we'd have to use it… I'm just sorry you were dragged into. 

“It's okay,” Sparkling reassured, doing his best attempt at a smile. “I'll be with you every step of the way.”

 

Sparkling locked the door of his home, heaving his heavy bag over his shoulder and pulling out his phone. He dialed a familiar number, raising the phone to his ear and letting it ring, mentally preparing himself for the conversation. 

“Hello?”

“Hey, Cheesecake.”

“Sparkling! Why are you calling so late, darling?”

“Heh. Sorry, just needed to talk to someone.”

“...Is everything alright? You sound dreadful, no offence.”

“Yeah, just tired.” 

“What do you need from me, darling?”

“... I just wanted to tell you that I left everything to you in my will. My home, my bar… everything. You're like a sister to me, so I wanted you to have them if something happened to me.”

“Sparkling, you're scaring me-”

“I'm going to be going back to Vampire Castle for a few more days. You were right, I'm not well enough to go back to work… my spare key is in my umbrella stand, if you need to get into my house.”

“Sparkling-”

“Love ya, doll. Take care of yourself.”

Before she could respond, he hung up, turning off his phone and throwing it as hard as he could at the ground, watching it shatter- he could guess he wouldn't need where he was going. 

  
  


He knocked on the door of the castle, watching a tired,  _ sober _ Vampire open it. He gave a weak smile, letting Sparkling in. 

“You ready for this?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I am.”

  
  
  


The morning came, stained with smoke and ash. Firemen, police, and newsmen circled the scene. 

Smoke still rose from the smouldering remains of Vampire Castle, now nothing more than a shell of its former glory. 

No one knew how the fire had started, though the local menace Fire Spirit was highly suspected of playing a role. 

From the ashes, three bodies had been found, burnt far beyond recognition. The three were identified as the corpses of Vampire Cookie, Alchemist Cookie, and, after finding the phone recordings from his conversation with Cheesecake and several metal items on his person, Sparkling Cookie. 

The fire left the city shaken to its core. No one knew what to say about it- it had been sudden, it had been tragic. 

Wizard was down two of his suspects, stolen from him by the blaze- but only time would tell if they had been the ones behind it all in actuality. In time, he'd see the attacks cease, the curfew lifted, life return to normal. 

Now, however, he saw the blanket pile in front of him shift

“... Wizard?”

Wizard felt a weight on his heart melt away as he heard his apprentice's voice, tired and weak but definitely  _ hers.  _

“Cream Puff…” he whispered, feeling his eyes well up. “You're alive.”

  
  


Three figures stood at the edge of the woods, watching the smoke rise from the city below. 

“Welp… goodbye, my beautiful library. I wish I could have saved more of your books, but the blood formula took up too much space.”

The tallest figure patted the shortest on the shoulder, a small comfort in this trying time. “My wine cellar was in there… guess I'll have to go sober for a while, eh?” he joked, somewhat humorless in tone. The third figure adjusted his bag, smelling the stench of ash in the wind. “I never thought I'd leave my bar behind… guess life's not fair, after all.”

The two others nodded in agreement. They'd all lost a lot that day, almost at the drop of the hat. As soon as the match “accidentally” hit the gasoline, their worlds had gone up in flames- literally. 

“I hope those dummy corpses fooled them, though.”

“Please, give me some credit! Those were some of my finest alchemical work!”

“You guys the vampires I'm supposed to guide?”

The three turned to the newcomer, a hulking, grizzled brute of a man. The shortest one nodded. “Werewolf Cookie, I presume?”

He nodded, turning towards the woods. “Follow me, I'll take you to the gloomier parts, as requested.”

The middle figure grabbed the tall one's hand, intertwining their fingers. “Ready for a new adventure, love?”

The tall one nodded, a smirk on his lips. “As long as you're with me… I'm ready for anything.”

With one last glance back, the small group disappeared into the darkness of the forest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed, and I'll see you next time.


	13. Sangiovese

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After half a century of gentle abandonment, someone finally buys the old bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is an epilogue to Wine Red, a final note to leave the story off on- I hope you all enjoy!

The girl kicked the amplifier, watching the beat-up old speaker finally hum to life in front of the old bar- it felt like it got finickier each day, though that was probably because it was over half a century older than her.

Satisfied, she plugged in the electric violin, carefully tuning the strange instrument with extreme precision. Once it was close enough to her expectations, she started playing, hoping to score a few coins for her troubles.

It didn't take long for a few pieces of gold dropped into her violin case, and she looked up, planning on thanking the donor. When she saw him, she stopped playing.

She hated to be nosy, but she couldn't help but feel a certain curiosity towards the young man who still stood near her, though she didn't know why. He seemed to be about her age, blond hair pulled into a tidy low ponytail, not a hair out of place. Emerald eyes had a look of wistfulness as he looked through the dark windows of the dusty old bar. He adjusted his umbrella- oh yeah, he had an  _umbrella_ in the middle of a gorgeous spring day- before realizing he was being watched.

"Can I help you, Miss?"

The girl jumped a little, looking away. "Heh, sorry... didn't mean to stare. We don't get a lotta strangers around here, you know?"

Said stranger smiled, though she noticed there was a hint of sadness to it. "You are quite talented on that violin, you know. I'd have mistaken you for a professional."

She blushed, scratching the back of her neck. "Oh, well... My grandfather is a violinist, and he started out this way, so I thought, maybe I'd try it myself, you know?"

The golden-haired stranger nodded, then looked back at the bar. Curiosity was still gnawing at the girl, so she decided to take some initiative. "What brings you to town?"

"Oh, I just moved here with my husband," the stranger shrugged, giving a look of disdain at the long-faded sign on the bar. "Hey, do you happen to know who owns this place? Doesn't look like anyone's using it..."

"Great-Auntie Cheesecake owns it, but good luck getting it from her- she's very protective of it, 'parently the last owner died or somethin'? I don't know, never paid much attention to it- it's been closed since before I was born."

The stranger hummed, seemingly satisfied by that answer. "Thank you, miss..."

"Brookie," she introduced herself, holding out a hand for him to shake. He took it, smiling a sharp smile.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Brookie. You can call me Champagne Cookie."

 

 

 

Cheesecake sat in her armchair, petting Princess Cheese Kitten VI and staring into the fire. In her twilight years, she'd become more closed off, less social than she once had been.

Though, it was partially because  _someone_ had been insisting on visiting her.

"He says he only wants a moment of your time-"

"That's what they all say," she snapped at her butler, "All those real estate agents and investment groups. I've told them for  _53 years,_ I am  _not_ selling that house or that storefront! Not now, not ever, not until my bones rest six feet under!"

"That's just it, he's not a real estate agent."

She turned in her chair, giving her butler a confused glance. He cleared his throat, looking in no discernible direction to avoid eye contact. "He says he's an old friend of yours, Madam."

"... What does he look like?"

"Young man-" Cheesecake rolled her eyes- "- Blond hair, green eyes, semi-formal apparel-"

"..." Cheesecake's heart skipped a beat, confusion setting in deeper as her mind reasoned exactly who it  _couldn't_ be. "Send him in."

The butler nodded, exiting to fetch the young man.

 

Cheesecake thought she was seeing a ghost.

 

The man smiled, a grin she'd last seen so many long years ago. Those emerald eyes sparkled and glimmered, making Cheesecake's breath catch in her throat.

"Hello, Madame," he greeted her, giving a small bow. "My name is Champagne Cookie, and I am interested in purchasing the old bar in town- I'm sure you know which one."

She blinked, then chuckled. "Of course,  _you'd_ be the one to die for half a century and come back looking younger than ever," she jabbed, leaning back in her chair.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about, Madame," he chided with a coy wink. "I just moved into town, after all."

She smirked at that wink, yep, it was  _him_ alright- she'd know that smug look anywhere. "Take it. And the manor, too. No payment."

He looked genuinely shocked, raising a hand to his chest. " _Madame,_ I- I don't know what to say! Are you sure?"

She reached into her nightstand, rustling through it to find a small box, which contained the deeds for the property. "It's yours, isn't it darling? You're still alive, after all-"

She found herself suddenly pulled into a hug, a bit too tight for her old bones but she made no effort to stop him. "Thank you, old friend..."

She wiped a couple of tears that escaped her eyes away behind his back, a final sense of closure drifting over her. "Go on, geddouttahere- you got a bar to run."

 

 

The bar had taken a few weeks to get up and running, what with repairs and such to be done on it and the old manor, but at long last it was open- and bustling. Youngsters Champagne had never met before came by out of curiosity, older folks he knew better than anyone could guess came by for the nostalgia. Quite a few older patrons commented on the striking resemblance between the new owner and the old one, to which Champagne just shrugged- coincidences happened, he reminded them. Nothing to overthink.

Grand Magician Cream Puff stopped by, ordering an Italian Soda with a shot of vodka. Champagne noted the peculiar scar on her neck, deep and never fully healed.

A retired Adventurer came in with Onion, taking him out for a father-daughter bonding night.

Champagne made it a game, trying to figure out who was who's kid- or, as he soon realized was often the case, grandkid. Wow, it really had been fifty-three years, huh? Felt like he was here just yesterday.

 

Finally, the bar was empty, the patrons new and old having packed up for the night. Sparkling polished the marble counter, the stone being the one thing barely touched by time. He was polishing an antique glass when he heard a knock at the window. 

He smiled, rushing to open the door, jumping up to give the newcomer an eager kiss. The man chuckled, and Champagne felt the warm metal of his ring brush his cheek as he cupped his cheek with his left hand.

Champagne let go after a moment, looking up into amethyst eyes. "Hello, Merlot."

Merlot smiled, stepping into the bar. "Sorry I missed the opening, Champ. Grape kept me behind- testing a new iteration of her serum, and all that jazz."

"Jesus, does she ever stop working on  that? The one version she's got currently works fine!"

"That's what I said!"

Champagne chuckled, running a han through the messiest excuse for shoulder-length hair he had ever seen. "You need a new haircut."

"Aw, Champ, not this again-"

"I'm serious! You're starting to look like  _Vampire_ again!"

Merlot sighed, smoothing his hair the best he could. "... Heh... It's funny... I was still Vampire when you first met me... and you were still Sparkling, right here in this bar."

Champagne calmed a bit, leaning on the counter. "Some of the oldies almost recognized me... It's been so long since I've been Sparkling, love, it feels weird to be 'mistaken' for him."

"Hey, you're still the same man I fell for," Merlot reassured, reaching out to gently touch his husband's cheek. 

"And you're the dumb drunkard who stole my heart."

Merlot shrugged awkwardly, and Champagne chuckled, pulling out a pair of wineglasses and a bottle of Shiraz and setting them on the table. "Last drinks for tonight, before I lock up?"

"Top me off, barkeep."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well fellas, thank you for joining me on this journey! Honestly when I first started this fic, I had no idea how popular my stupid little story would get. To all my wonderful readers, thank you for all your comments and kudos, they really helped keep me going throughout this project!
> 
> This may be the end of Wine Red, but it isn't the end of my exploration of these two characters and this AU! Keep an eye out for Rosé, a collection of short drabbles and one-shots for this AU that will be posted from time-to-time!
> 
> Thank you all again, and goodnight everybody, I'm going to bed


End file.
